The Vampire Mantle
by God of Darkness
Summary: A new evil looms on the horizon, and an unexpected alliance is formed to combat it. (On indefinite hold. See bio for reason why.)
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I do not own Hellsing. This story is written for my own enjoyment, and to give some much needed exercise to my overactive imagination. The characters of Douglas Fang and Samantha Fang are modeled after two of my friends with their permission.  
  
Chapter 1: Seras Victoria's Dilemma  
  
Seras Victoria had been tossing and turning for three hours, yet every time she found a position that was comfortable enough for her to sleep, she would get a little drowsy. Once that happened her eyes would close. And once they were closed, the events of two days earlier would play through her mind, and the position would no longer be comfortable. She would then repeat the process, with the same results.  
Finally, Seras gave up, and pushed the button to open the coffin. Standing up, she grabbed a towel on her way out the door. Once into the hallway, she turned toward the left, and entered the two-room bathroom. One room housed the toilet and a sink; the other housed a bathtub and shower.  
Entering the room with the bathtub, she closed and locked the door. She then turned on the water, and while it was getting warm, she stripped off her nightgown. Once the water was the right temperature, lukewarm to humans, but to her it was rather hot, she climbed in, closed the curtain, and turned on the showerhead.  
After a few minutes of the water running over her, Seras turned off the water, and climbed out of the shower. After wrapping the towel around herself, and grabbing her nightgown, she headed back to her room.  
Once the door was closed behind her, Seras dropped the towel onto the floor, and grabbed a pair of cotton panties. After pulling them on, she grabbed a pair of blue jeans, and pulled them on. She then grabbed a strapless bra, and clipped it on. Over it went a skintight black t-shirt. After pulling on her socks, and shoes, she headed toward the door.  
On the way out, she grabbed her hat, gloves, and sunglasses and pulled them on. She then exited her room in the dungeons of the Hellsing Corporations HQ, and headed up to the surface.  
  
Walter slowly propelled his wheel chair toward the kitchen, intending to get something to eat for lunch. It was noon, and his breakfast hadn't been very satisfying. He didn't expect his lunch to be any better, not since his condition didn't allow him to eat any real food. Since the Incognito incident, and the helicopter crash, four days ago, Walter had been confined to this wheel chair He stopped when he saw Miss Victoria ascend the stairs leading out of the dungeons. He raised his eyebrows in surprise when she headed toward the doors leading outside.  
As her hand stretched out to grasp the doorknob, a slightly mocking voice rang out.  
"Where are you going Seras Victoria?"  
The owner of the voice, an exceptionally tall man, topping seven feet, and dressed almost completely in black and blood red stepped out of the wall and gazed at the woman's back, with his trademark grin on his face.  
The lack of Alucard using the nickname he had given Seras surprised Walter, but the words out of Seras's mouth shocked him into openly displaying it.  
"It's none of your business Alucard."  
Alucard's grin vanished instantly. Yet his voice was still entirely courteous.  
"Oh, come now Victoria, we're both so much alike that..."  
Seras cut him off before he could continue.  
"We're both vampires, and vampire hunters. That's the only similarity between us anymore. And I'll burn in the pits of hell before I let it change."  
With that, Seras opened the door and stepped outside.  
Walter figured out what was wrong rather quickly, and when the last piece fell into place, he sighed. Unfortunately, Alucard heard him.  
"Something wrong Walter?"  
"Only that you've done something to her that I don't think you should have," was Walter's reply.  
"Observant as ever I see. Please, Walter, elaborate. Your reasoning on this subject should prove interesting."  
"By the fact that she called you Alucard, and not Master, I assume you had her drink your blood, thus breaking her tie to you." After Alucard nodded, Walter continued. "That is the problem. When she drank your blood, she lost something that was important to her. Something of the bond the two of you shared as Vampire Master and Vampire Servant. She wasn't in love with you," Walter quickly stated when he noticed Alucard opening his mouth to speak. "Nor is she jealous of the fact that you have feelings for Sir Integra."  
As the words left his mouth, Alucard fixed his eyes on him in a piercing gaze that should've stuck Walter to the wall.  
"Oh, don't look at me like that Alucard. You and Sir Integra display affection in a rather odd way, but it's not too hard to figure out with a little determination to know. Especially when you have the fact blatantly shoved into your face. When Sir Integra was wounded, and you watched over her until she awoke, well...It was rather hard for Miss Victoria not to put two and two together. I don't think she was hurt, possibly a little jealous, but nothing more."  
Alucard nodded, and walked through the wall again. Walter then continued on his way to the kitchen.  
  
Seras had left the Hellsing HQ grounds a little while ago, and hadn't stopped walking. Her body was running on automatic while her mind worked overtime. (Just who does he think he is?! Butting into my business like that. Bastard.) Seras was quite mad at Alucard. But the anger didn't stem from the fact that Alucard practically forced her to drink his blood. She was, after all, more trouble than she was worth. She had served her purpose of making Sir Integra jealous, and she was only above average in strength for a vampire. On top of that, she constantly disobeyed him when it mattered.  
No, the anger wasn't because he had cut the bond between them as servant and master. The anger was a disguise to hide the hurt, pain, longing, and loneliness that resulted because Alucard had severed the bond. Seras had lost her mother the day she was born, and her father to a drunk driver when she was ten. Since the accident, there had been a craving in her for a father figure, and a sudden feeling of loneliness, and detachment from those around her. It had taken her four years to get fully over her father's death, get out, and make a few friends. She had found herself turning back into the girl she was when her father was alive.  
When she graduated High School, she had signed up at the Police academy. It had been a dream since she was a little girl to follow in the footsteps of her father, and become a police officer. She had been shocked to find herself in the Special Forces. She had accomplished her dream, and then some. But on her third mission, she had been sent with her unit to arrest the priest, who was a vampire. When everyone had died, all her best friends, she had felt the loneliness returning, and she had feared it. Then Alucard had turned her into a vampire, and she had been truly isolated from everyone else, with the exception of her newfound master. She had been so relieved when she had realized that she could always feel Alucard, to the point when she knew when he was close bye, to his overall mood.  
When he had first offered her his blood, she refused for two reasons. The first, and more obvious reason was that she just couldn't bring herself to drink blood yet. The second was that she had become accustomed to feeling Alucard wherever he was, and that the feeling of him kept the loneliness at bay.  
The moment when Alucard's blood touched her lips two days ago, the feeling of him in the back of her head abruptly vanished. After he had left the room, the door had swung shut, and as it did so, Seras had felt as if it was cutting her off from the rest of the world. She hadn't been ready for the feeling of suddenly being utterly alone.  
"Seras Victoria."  
The sudden voice cut through her musings, and brought her back to the real world.  
After blinking in surprise, Seras looked around herself, noticing that she was standing at the mouth of an alley. As she peered deeper into the alley, she saw the person who had called out to her. And she immediately considered running for her life.  
Alexander Anderson saw that Seras was about to flee and decided to take actions that would prevent this.  
"Wait, Miss Victoria, I don't want to fight." As he said this Alexander stepped out into the light, hands held up in the gesture of surrender.  
As Alexander's word's struck home, Seras considered him, noticing several things about the priest's attire. He was wearing a pair of blue jeans, and a black, skintight tank top. His white gloves were gone, as was his trench coat. However, the thing that she truly noted was that he wasn't wearing his silver cross. That fact alone gave her pause. She decided to hear what he had to say, but she would be ready to run at an instant's notice.  
"What do you want Alexander?"  
Alexander decided to get right to the point.  
"I want to make a deal with you."  
That statement caught Seras completely off guard.  
"Wh...what...?" She gazed at the priest, trying to find any sign of falsehood in his face, and trying to get over her shock.  
Alexander slowly reached into his pocket and withdrew his silver cross. When he saw Seras flinch at the cross and take a step back, he raised his free hand, and shook his head. She paused, wondering what he was doing.  
"Have you felt it? The evil presence that has appeared?"  
As Seras nodded she said, "Yes, I have felt it at night. Now, Alexander, what do you want?" Seras was nervous as hell. When she left the mansion, she hadn't grabbed her gun. And now she was face to face with the only person she had met to this day that was worthy of terror, and that was still alive. Seras knew that if Alexander truly wished to, he could kill her. And now that she was no longer bonded to Alucard, he wouldn't come running to save her. And her only means of defense against Alexander was her gun, and that was about as good as depending on a piece of frail glass to stop a nuclear explosion. Now that it was not only daylight, but now that she was also out in the sun, what little of her vampire powers that she could control weren't working.  
"I, Alexander Anderson, do swear by this cross, and by god, to not attack Seras Victoria, or another vampire of her choice save Alucard, in return for Seras Victoria's aid in combating this new evil. Punishment for breaking this oath will be to burn in the deepest pits of hell for eternity."  
Seras was now truly shocked beyond all belief. If it had been physically possible for her jaw to hit the ground, it would have done so.  
"Wha...?" was Seras's intelligent response.  
Alexander grinned at the look on Seras's face. (It would be so easy to send her to her damned fate. But no.) He placed the cross back in his pocket, and extended his hand toward the vampire. "Normally I wouldn't even consider allying myself with a child of the night, but I know I will not be able to defeat this new evil on my own. And I would never be able to ally myself with your master."  
Seras eyed the hand warily for a moment before making up her mind.  
"Very well, I accept. Should you call for aid to combat this evil at any time, I will come if it is possible." She reached out and shook Alexander's hand. "And for the record Alucard is no longer my master. Until you need aid, Alexander." With that, Seras turned away, heading back to Hellsing HQ.  
"Please call me Alex. We are now allies, Miss Victoria."  
Seras stopped and looked at Alex over her shoulder. "Very well Alex. But please call me Seras." She then continued onward toward HQ.  
Alex nodded, then turned back into the alley, and disappeared from sight.  
  
Integra Hellsing watched as Seras walked across the grounds and back inside HQ. The normally cheerful vampire looked contemplative, and a little depressed.  
As Alucard walked in through the wall Integra turned around to face him.  
"You should not have broken the bond with her," Integra told Alucard without preamble.  
"The choice was mine to make Integra. I have no need for a vampire underling that will not obey when they must, for their own safety."  
"Hmph. Will you force me to take your blood as well?"  
"Not until you have good enough control of your new powers will I offer you the blood needed to become your own master once again. Whether you take it then will be your choice."  
"Like the choice you gave Seras?" The accusational tone did nothing to ruffle Alucard.  
"There is always a choice, just as two days ago. Seras had a choice. She made her decision of her own freewill."  
Integra didn't dignify Alucard with a verbal response. As she turned back to the window, her hand reached up and played with her now useless glasses. As she fully turned to face the window she looked up at the sun, and couldn't help the slight smile that graced her lips. One of the biggest misconceptions about vampires was their fatal reaction to the sun. That little tidbit of information was much like the wooden stake idea. 'Stab a vampire in the heart with a wooden stake and they shall perish.' According to Alucard, that was supposed to hurt like hell. But it was only a myth.  
Vampire's weakness to sunlight on the other hand...  
The sunlight did not destroy them, or even burn them, no more than the average human. However, when it was daylight, vampire's powers were greatly weakened. When they stepped into the sunlight vampires were all but stripped of their powers. They only kept their strength, speed, and agility.  
Most vampires went to many lengths to avoid sunlight, Alucard among them. Most slept in coffins during the day for protection. If a slayer came across them during the daylight, the vampire would be much easier prey.  
Integra turned away from the window to find that Alucard had vanished, and in his place was a bucket of ice with a single packet of medical blood. Integra shared one thing in common with Seras; they both refused to drink any kind of blood besides medical blood. They would not hunt a human for the fresh blood flowing in their veins.  
As Integra walked over to the blood, she removed her glasses and placed them on her desk. It had only been three days since Alucard had offered her his vampire blood in the prison cell. Shortly after she had accepted, the prison was forced to release her after the queen made a national broadcast telling everyone a doctored version of the truth.  
Integra was released within the hour of the broadcast, with a full apology.  
She was grateful to the queen for what she had done for them. The doctored version of the truth included telling everyone about the soldier's that Integra lost, and giving each person who had fought and died the title of 'Knight of the Queen'. There was no higher honor among the British.  
In private the Queen had told Integra that she had done all she could, and Integra had responded with 'it was more than enough.'  
Integra opened the blood packet, and drank the red liquid within.  
And the Queen had done more than enough. Simply honoring Integra's soldiers had settled whatever debt had arisen. Now the Hellsing Corporation's only problem was they were drastically short on personnel. They had no shortage of recruits, but they were mostly rookies, with no combat experience, let alone against the undead.  
As Integra drained the last of the blood from the packet, she rubbed at the bridge of her nose, feeling a slight headache coming on.  
(What we need are some veterans who can show the rookies how to combat this threat.) Integra had already given some thought to this matter, and it was time to inform the rest of the Hellsing Corporation. She had informed everyone over the intercom earlier about the meeting, and now that Seras had returned, the meeting could begin.  
  
The meeting room of the Hellsing Corporation was the same room where the Round Table conferences were held. The room was supposed to be occupied by the head of the Hellsing Corporation, the most Senior officer, the leaders of the 25 units in Hellsing, and a few others, including Hellsing's top agent. Since the current top agent was a vampire who didn't really care, he was usually absent.  
The room at the moment held Integra, the Head of Hellsing, Walter, a usual member, the leaders of the only three remaining units, Seras, and, surprisingly, Alucard.  
Here in the meeting room, it was made even more painstakingly clear that Hellsing needed more personnel. Of the three remaining units, only one had half of the needed number of soldiers. The other two didn't even have that.  
Never one to beat around the bush, Integra started speaking as soon as everyone was seated.  
"Now, you all know about the biggest problem that faces Hellsing Corporation. This room, not even half full, shows us just how badly we need more personnel."  
One of the captains spoke up. "I'm sorry Sir Integra, but I don't really see how this is such a problem. I've seen the list of people who have been recruited into Hellsing, and it is more than long enough to easily solve our problem of personnel. Once the new recruits arrive, we can begin training them."  
It was Seras who spoke next. "Therein lies the problem captain."  
When he raised his eyebrows in question, Seras elaborated.  
"I also have seen the list of new recruits, and I agree that there are more than enough to fill out the gaps with a little training. It's not the number of recruits; it's the fact that they need training. We don't need soldiers in three and a half months, we need them now. And what about when they do finish their training? What happens when they're told that they're expected to fight vampires and ghouls? Most of them believe that vampires are fairy tales, and ghouls the material of quickly forgotten nightmares. They'll be terrified in their first battle. I myself was unable to pull the trigger on my first hunt. It was a mixture of terror, and disbelief. If a vampire can doubt in the existence of vampires and ghouls, what do you think a teenager, fresh out of our training camp, will do?"  
Integra was impressed. Seras had matured since coming to Hellsing two years ago.  
"Seras is right. We don't need rookies, we need veterans." Seras nodded to Integra in thanks. Integra gave the slightest nod in return.  
After a moment, another captain asked, "Well, how do we go about getting veterans when the rookies are on their way here. They arrive tomarrow."  
Integra answered him. "We can't change the fact that we will have rookies, nor the fact that we have to train them. We can, however, also bring in veterans who can hunt the vampires, and also train the recruits."  
It was Walter who continued. "I've made some phone calls, and called in some favors, all inquiring about who we should bring in to our aid. Every time the same people are recommended. They don't belong to an organization, preferring to be self-employed. A multi millionaire heads them, and they've fought everything the world of the dark has to offer. If there were creatures that were said to be invincible, these people wiped them out. Now, unfortunately, the only file I could acquire that was up to date is the first one. All others are a few years old at least." At this point, Walter pulled out some folders, and passed them around. He also turned on the projection screen.  
After everyone had a folder, Walter pushed a button on the remote and the first picture came up, displaying a man in his mid 60's. His hair was completely white, and he was balding slightly, but he still gave off an impression of intense power.  
"This is their leader, Jared Marindye, age is 65. 55 years ago, his family was murdered by demons, leaving Jared with his fortune, and a craving for revenge. For the next ten years he trained, bringing himself up to be a formidable hunter of the dark. 15 years later, Jared had created an elite team of hunters from people all over the world, and he began to truly hunt the dark. For the next 30 years, they hunted the dark, making a name for themselves in the underground. They were given the nickname 'Dark's Bane,' and they lived up to it. They finally came across the demon's that had killed Jared's family, and after a three-day battle, wiped them out. Jared was critically wounded however, and was forced to retire from the actual hunting. However, he still financially backs the Dark's Bane, doing everything he can to aid the battle against the night."  
Walter clicked another button and the picture changed to a man in his late twenties. He was completely bald, and had a pleasant face to look at, but the eyes of whoever looked at him would be drawn to the man's eyes. Or lack there of. The man had two black pools where his eyes should be. Walter continued after the small amount of shock had worn off.  
"Now, this man is known only by 'Black,' and is a total mystery. He is the only person remaining from Jared's first team of hunters, and that's because, as far as I know, he doesn't enter battle. He provides the weapons, magic, and knowledge for the rest of the members of the Dark's Bane. The only other known fact about him is that he isn't human. No one knows what he is, only that it's not human, and that whatever it is, it doesn't age apparently, for he hasn't aged a day since Jared first found him."  
Walter continued with the descriptions about the members of Dark's Bane, and there was little else of interest. They were humans, and all of them good, most of them on Walter's former level. However the only other two truly noteworthy files were the last two.  
"These next two files were made last year, so they are fairly recent." Walter brought up the next picture before continuing, displaying a young man, about 20 years old. He had dark brown hair, and it fell about his head in a 'helmet.' There was a scar that started at his left temple, and ran down the left side of his face, disappearing under his shirt. His eyes were a burnished gold, and the way he was grinning in the picture showed off his slightly larger than average canines.  
"This is Douglas Fang. As you can tell, he's not human. When he was 17, Douglas lost his family to a group of vampires. Douglas was able to avoid that fate because he was out. When he returned home, he went into a berserk frenzy, and began to hunt the vampires down. After one meeting where he barely escaped with his life he ran across a mortally wounded werewolf. The same vampires had beaten the wolf. When the wolf realized that Douglas was hunting the same vampires, it offered him help in the form of the wolf bite. Douglas accepted, and then resumed his hunt. Less than three weeks later, he found the vampires and brutally killed them. Dark's Bane recruited him the next day. Now about Douglas's wolf abilities: he has very keen senses, and is slightly stronger than a human body builder. His stamina is unrivaled, just like a wolf's. He also has a wolf's agility and speed. And the last thing of note is that Douglas has complete control of the wolf within him. Because he accepted the bite willingly, Douglas can transform at will into a humanoid wolf. He still transforms on the full moon, but he also keeps his mind intact."  
Walter changed the picture, showing a young woman, also about 20 years old. She had long, dark brown hair that reached her mid back, a pair of glasses over her eyes.  
"This is Samantha Fang. She is Douglas's wife, and the mother of his children, twins. She has almost no combat abilities, aside from 'a mean right hook,' as Douglas states in his file. She is, however, quite an accomplished nurse, and quite good at rune magic, making her a force to be reckoned with if she has to fight, which she prefers to avoid. She mostly helps Black make weapons and patch up the members when they get done with a mission."  
After Walter turned off the projector screen, via remote, Integra spoke once again.  
"I have already called the Dark's Bane, and they have agreed to come and train our recruits, as well as aid us in hunting vampires. They will arrive about two days after our new recruits. If no one else has anything that they feel needs to be said, then this meeting is over."  
Integra waited for a moment to make sure that no one else had anything to say, then stood, and left. The others followed her example.  
  
Seras entered her room, and shut the door behind her. She moved over to where she kept her clothes, and after picking out a nightgown of very soft white cotton, stripped off her clothes, and pulled the dress over her head. She then climbed into bed, and pressed the button to bring the coffin lid down.  
As the lid was lowering, Seras thought back to her meeting with Alex. Something was really wrong for him to even consider approaching her without his weapons, let alone turn her into an ally. She had better prepare herself for this new evil.  
(Looks like a visit to Walter is in order.) With that thought, Seras started to drift off to sleep. But before sleep overtook her, she wondered about the feeling she had since Integra had told them that the Dark's Bane was coming to help Hellsing. The feeling like a part of her was coming...  
  
*Somewhere in  
New York City*  
  
The new jazz club that had opened earlier that day had a huge crowd, drawing every kind of person to it for the music, and the great food. It also drew other 'things' in hope of a meal of a different kind. And those things drew those that fought them.  
One such person was currently sitting at a two-story window over looking the entrance to the club, with a sniper rifle across his lap. From this point he had a clear view of all the people entering and leaving the club. A friend of his was in a similar position on the other side of the club building, guarding the back exit. There were also men guarding the fire exits, all of them alert, and ready.  
Now all they had to do was wait for their friends inside the club to find the vampire they were hunting and make him take an exit. Easy as pie.  
  
Inside the club the atmosphere was thoroughly excited and feverish as everyone danced and ate. As the alcohol consumption rose, it would become worse.  
There were a few people who used this atmosphere to their advantage, and disappeared into it, getting into advantageous positions around the inside of the club. Two people walked around the dance floor, looking at everyone they could, and trying to get a sight or scent of their prey.  
One of them was slightly shorter than the other. He had dark brown hair that fell about his head in a 'helmet.' There was a long scar running down the left side of his face, and his burnished gold eyes were very serious. He looked to be about 21, and was wearing a black leather trench coat. Underneath the coat were a pair of normal blue jeans, and a white long sleeved shirt. For shoes he was wearing a pair of white sneakers. He also was wearing a pair of dark sunglasses to hide his eyes.  
His companion had blond hair that was a little unruly, and was also wearing a pair of dark sunglasses. In his left ear was a simple, silver, hoop earring. He was wearing a black jacket that came down a little past his hips, with a hood that wasn't up. Covering his hands was a pair of soft, black leather gloves. Underneath the jacket he wore a maroon t-shirt with a silver dragon on the front. The shirt was tucked into a pair of tan cargo jeans, which would have been baggy if not for the black belt with the silver buckle. The pants bunched slightly over his black steel toe boots.  
The slightly shorter one spoke first.  
"Do you see him anywhere?"  
His companion answered after spotting their quarry.  
"Yes. He's at three o'clock. At the bar with that girl practically in his pants. He's wearing a blue shirt, slightly dirty."  
After his companion swept his gaze over the bar discreetly, he raised his left hand to his face. He made an act of messing with his sunglasses while he spoke into the microphone up his sleeve.  
"This is Doug, we've spotted the vampire. He's at the bar, third stool on the left. Is everyone in position?"  
After receiving affirmatives from everyone, Doug moved to the bar, leaving his companion to find a good angle of attack.  
His companion moved to the other side of the bar, far from the vampire. He turned to the barkeep.  
"Club soda please."  
The barkeep eyed the young man for a second, and then gave him a club soda. The young man gave the barkeep the right amount of money, and accepted the soda, but he didn't open it.  
While that was happening, Doug had sat on the stool next to the vampire and his lady friend. He caught the barkeep's attention, and made his order.  
"Beer please. Miller Genuine."  
After he exchanged the correct amount of money for the beer, he opened it and took a healthy swallow. After that one swallow, he turned around on his stool and got a nod from his companion down at the other end of the bar.  
They were ready to take another vampire down.  
He turned his attention to the vampire sitting next to him.  
After lowering his glasses a bit and exposing his golden eyes, Doug made his move.  
"Excuse me, but shouldn't the two of you get a room?"  
The vampire threw a death glare at Doug and spat, "It's none of your business. If this bothers you go somewhere else."  
He then turned his attention back to the women for a second then did a double take at Doug's eyes.  
Doug smiled as he said, "Oh, it bothers me very much, vampire. We don't need another ghoul running around."  
The vampire laughed at him and said, "Hah, you think I can't handle one human?"  
"One? Yes, I think you could handle one ordinary human rather well. You seemed to be doing so a second ago. But in case you can't smell it, I'm not entirely human. And in no way am I alone."  
At that the vampire frantically looked around the club and spotted several of the others, all of which were placed at varying locations and gazing back at him. Some even raised their glasses to him.  
The woman had heard their little exchange and was looking about ready to run screaming. The vampire decided to give her a head start, only in the wrong direction.  
He placed his hands on her hips, and effortlessly heaved her into Doug, and then he made his break. Unfortunately, he hadn't spotted Doug's companion at the bar and he only made it two steps before the club soda smashed into his face with half the force of an artillery shell, sending him to the floor.  
Everything after that seemed to happen at once.  
People around the sprawling vampire screamed and backed away.  
Doug calmly lifted the woman from his lap, and placed her on her feet. She then decided to run screaming.  
Doug's companion from the bar retracted his arm from after his throw, and proceeded to calmly walk toward the downed vampire.  
The others began to tighten their circle, which had only one exit, out a nearby fire exit, and right into three heavily armed people.  
The vampire realized what was happening, and decided to screw it all up with a surprise. He raised his hand and snapped his fingers.  
That's when hell really broke loose.  
Six ghouls hidden in the crowd suddenly made an appearance, growling and causing panic. Another seven suddenly charged in from various cleaning closets about the club. What had started as a neatly organized plan of 'heard the sheep' turned into a firefight because several of the ghouls had guns, and the rest had knives and clubs of some sort.  
The vampire decided to make his escape during the confusion, and ran up a flight of stairs toward the second floor, where the food was served on a more stable surface. There was also a large window allowing people who were eating to view the outside.  
Unfortunately for the vampire, he still hadn't noticed the young man who made the throw earlier, who was now running up the other flight of stairs onto the second floor, while speaking into his microphone.  
"James, he's on the second floor. Be ready for a sudden exit from that floor."  
The sniper across the street with a view of the front brought his gun up into the ready position after loading a silver bullet.  
The vampire made it to the second floor and began running toward a door that would lead to the fire escape. He stopped in his tracks when Doug's companion also made it to the second floor, reaching into his coat as he did so, and drawing forth a Desert Eagle handgun. He clicked off the safety and brought the gun up, aiming for the vampire's heart.  
The vampire made a break for the large window, diving through it, and showering the crowd below with glass.  
Doug's companion followed, jumping out of the window and landing on the ground 12 feet below him with little more than a grunt. He looked around, and spotted the vampire making a break to his left. He raised his microphone and screamed into it, "James, take the shot!"  
A shot rang out in amongst the screams. The vampire at the last second dived to the ground and rolled, coming back onto his feet running. The bullet continued on, tagging a young man in the leg.  
Doug's companion swore and gave chase to the vampire, ignoring the injured man. Someone would take care of him.  
The chase lasted only half a block, before the vampire turned into an alley, and found his key to freedom, and maybe even a meal.  
A young couple that had exited the club a few minutes before the action had started had decided to take the shortcut through the alley to get to their car. They were totally surprised and unprepared for the seemingly 30 year old man that came down the alley behind them at a dead run. That made it all much easier for him to grab the girl and use her as a body shield to protect him from the young man giving chase.  
Said young man rounded the corner into the alley a second later, bringing up his gun and taking aim at the vampire and his hostage before coming to a complete stop. He eyed the situation before him carefully, thinking quickly.  
The girl was panicking. She was a hostage, and the man across from her had his gun pointed at her captor, and therefore, her. It was made even worse when her captor lowered his head a bit and inhaled deeply.  
"*Sniff*...ah, my dear, your blood smells delicious, so sweet, and full of fire. Why I can't wait to..."  
Whatever it was he couldn't wait to do, she never found out for at that second, he started to smell the air around them.  
"*Sniff...sniff, sniff* Well well, I should've known." He continued after a second, directing his words to the young man with the gun.  
"Why don't you come with me? We could be truly powerful together you know. I mean, come on, two vam..."  
He was cut off when the young man spoke for the first time.  
"Shut." BLAM!  
The bullet took the vampire right between the eyes, since he hadn't the sense to raise the girl to a level where she could protect his head. As he fell away from her the girl ran to the comforting arms of her boyfriend.  
The young man walked forward to the stunned vampire, and pointed his gun at the vampire's heart.  
"Up." BLAM!  
After the bullet had torn through skin, bone, and a minimal amount of muscle to strike the heart, the vampire disintegrated.  
The young man reached into his coat, and when he withdrew his hand, his gun was nowhere in sight. He then spoke into his radio.  
"The target is down, I repeat, the target is down. Our jobs over."  
As the young man turned away from the pile of dust, he ran his eyes over the couple, making sure they were all right. His eyes lingered for a moment before he tore them away, and continued on his way out of the alley.  
As he was walking back to the car, his friend Doug fell into stride along side, and started a conversation.  
"Nice piece of work."  
"Thanks."  
"What's wrong, homesick?"  
"Hmph, you need a home for that."  
Doug looked at his friend for a second before returning his eyes to where he was going. After a second, he spoke.  
"Don't worry. You'll find another home with people who will accept you."  
As his friend nodded and smiled slightly Doug said, "Now, let's go to London!"  
  
End Chapter one.  
  
So, what do you think? Please review. 


	2. Chap 2

Chapter 2: Dark's Bane Vs. Hellsing.  
  
Douglas Fang had always hated flying. Maybe it was the wolf in him, but he didn't like having his feet any higher off the ground than he could jump. So flying at heights of thirty thousand feet or more were quite nerve racking for him. His friend on the other hand...  
His blond haired companion had immediately tilted the seat back and fallen fast asleep once the sun rose, about an hour ago. Before that, he had sat there, calmly, through the entire night, reading some book.  
Samantha shifting to a more comfortable position while leaning against his shoulder brought Doug out of his reverie. He turned and studied his wife while she slept, her face a mask of peace. Doug grinned when he thought about how the mask of peace she now wore would soon be shattered by their twin children. The twins were a perfect mix of their parents: They had Samantha's fiery temper, and Doug's love of mischief and play. Doug frowned as he considered what else they had inherited from their parents. Both of his children had enhanced senses, and were much stronger than they should be. Both of them showed potential in the areas of rune magic, and combat, but his son showed great promise in becoming a rune mage, following after Samantha, while his daughter showed great potential as a fighter, following after Doug himself. While Doug was proud of them, it wasn't what he wanted.  
Their slightly inhuman parentage set his children apart from society at large, forcing them into a life of loneliness: Into the life of a hunter. It was a hard, cruel fate that Doug had given his children.  
Doug turned his head to look out the window and continued his musings. They had another hour of flight left before they arrived.  
If Doug had been really paying attention to his surroundings, in specific to his friend, he would've noticed that his companion was having as much trouble sleeping as Doug himself.  
It wasn't that the young man didn't want to sleep. He was actually quite comfortable, and he was also drowsy now that the sun was up. But there was an incessant buzzing that was in his head, and it refused to let him get any sleep. It had been there ever since he got onto the plane, and it had grown stronger as the night had gone on. It was driving him insane. If it didn't stop soon, he was going to Black. The weapon smith/doctor/rune mage/psychic/strategist always seemed to have something that would fit any situation.  
At the moment, he was only laying down because he knew if he got up, he'd never sit down again, at least, not until he destroyed something...preferably with a lot of explosions.  
An hour later, when the captain came over the intercom, the young man, Doug and Samantha all came back to the real world, and made themselves ready to exit the plane. -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- _-_-_-  
  
An hour after the plane landed found the members of the Dark's Bane in the airport's parking lot. From afar, they looked like a special ops team from some action movie: Everyone was dressed in black, and they all carried very large bags, and suitcases, also all black. They stood next to their vehicles, SUV's, which were all black. It was a good thing that no one thought to check their bags at the airport security. The fact that they were all carrying enough weaponry and high tech equipment to supply a small army would've raised more than a few eyebrows. And if Black's bag was ever checked, the fact that Black had somehow managed to cram over a hundred medieval weapons, almost two hundred guns of various kinds, nearly three hundred books, and an entire laboratory into it, both magical and technological...well, they never thought about what would happen if that scenario came around.  
"So, what do we check out first? We're three days earlier than they expect us, giving us three days to look around, get to know the area."  
"Doug, I say we scope out this area."  
Black unrolled a map he pulled from nowhere, showing about half a block of the city. One rather large building was highlighted with red. After everyone got a look at the map, Black continued.  
"This building has a high concentration of black magic, and it stinks of blood spilt."  
Doug nodded, not questioning Black's extraordinary senses.  
"Right, we'll check that area, and tonight, we'll clean it out. We'll decide what else to do later. All agreed?"  
When no negative was forthcoming, Doug nodded, and then headed for a car, followed by Samantha who was carrying both twins, who were fast asleep. Once everyone was in a car, they headed out, taking different routes to their destination. -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- _-_-_-  
  
Seras woke as the sun set. After the meeting she slept rather well, not thinking once about Alucard. As she pushed the button to raise the coffin lid she noticed how the feeling from before was still there, and this time much stronger.  
Once the lid was up, Seras once again grabbed a towel and headed for the bathroom for a quick shower. Ten minutes later, she was back, her hair dripping wet. After drying off completely, she dressed in her 'bum outfit,' which consisted of light tan slacks, a white and red striped shirt, and light red, nearly pink, jacket, and a dark red beanie. She frowned slightly as she remembered the last time she had worn this outfit: It had been when Alucard had been beheaded when facing Alex for the second time. After a moment, she shook her head, and grabbed her gloves and gun on the way out, as well as her sunglasses. -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- _-_-_-  
  
Integra stood behind Walter as he sat at his computer, showing her information about a building that was now playing host to an unknown number of vampires and ghouls.  
"There are a total of five floors, and each floor has an average of seven rooms. We don't know how many vampires or ghouls are in there, but we do know that there are quite a few."  
Before Integra could respond, or Walter could continue, Seras entered the room.  
"Oh, sorry. I was hoping I could borrow a book. I'll come back later."  
"Actually Seras, please come in. What we're talking about concerns you."  
Seras complied and came to stand behind Walter, on his left, with Integra on his right. After a moment, Walter continued.  
"Right, Seras, this is a building that we suspect is the hide out of a few vampires, and a lot of ghouls. Over the last three nights, about thirty people have all gone missing, each one when they were within a block of this building. One or two were witnessed, and the stories matched. Several people swarmed a small group of people, and dragged them away, either down an alley, or into a shadowy area. Once everyone was in the shadows, they all apparently vanished."  
Seras nodded.  
"So I suppose I'll be busy tonight. How many men?"  
"Thirty, as well as you."  
Seras nodded at Integra's statement, and left the room.  
"Interesting..."  
"So you noticed as well Walter?"  
"Yes. I haven't seen her that happy since Alucard broke the bond between them. Seems something brought her spirits up."  
"Hmm..."  
"If you don't mind me asking Sir Integra, why are you so interested?"  
"The well being of my soldier's is a high priority. Soldier's who are distracted soon become soldier's who are dead."  
With that, Integra Hellsing left the room, Walter's gaze on her back. Once the door clicked shut, Walter continued.  
"And you, Sir Integra? Where do you fall in your own priorities?" -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- _-_-_-  
  
Seras sat in the AGT, or armored ground transport. She had changed into her Hellsing uniform for the hunt, and had brought along her usual handgun, as well as the Halconnen, but she planned to leave that in the AGT. She did, however, have an assault shotgun across her lap, and was loading shells as the vehicle moved down the road, approaching the target building.  
As Seras loaded another shell, she looked around at the other Hellsing soldier's. This squad had been put together for this mission, and Seras could see the tension mounting. It was a full squad, but the members had never really worked together before. That little fact created the problem of not knowing how the others would react in a situation, with one exception, Seras herself.  
Since Seras didn't really have a unit, she had been sent on any mission that was believed to require a vampire. Because of this, she had accompanied nearly every unit Hellsing had at least once, and had gathered a great deal of experience in a short amount of time.  
Seras continued her musings as she finished loading the shotgun. Eventually, she came around to the feeling that had been in the back of her head since the first mentioning of Dark's Bane. It was growing stronger by the minute, and it was also growing more confusing.  
Seras' musings were cut short when the AGT came to a stop, and the driver announced that they had arrived.  
The doors at the back of the AGT opened, and the Hellsing soldiers filed out and into formation. The commanding officer for this mission, the man who had thought that just getting new recruits would be enough, walked down the line, giving the soldier's the known facts about the mission.  
"The building has a total of five floors, with an unknown number of vampires and ghouls on each floor. You are to proceed with extreme caution. If a single unnecessary risk is taken the person who takes that risk will answer to me. Am I understood?"  
"Sir, yes sir!"  
"Good. 'In the name of God, impure souls of the living dead shall be banished into eternal damnation. Amen.'"  
Once the last word left the commander's mouth, most of the Hellsing soldier's entered the building, while those that stayed outside took up sniping positions. -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- _-_-_-  
  
By some freak coincidence, Dark's Bane arrived just as the Hellsing AGT arrived; only Dark's Bane was on the other side of the building. The members of Dark's Bane, instead of assuming a military formation, simply milled about the street for a moment. Among those milling about were Doug and his blond haired companion, who was currently leaning against one of the SUV's, studying the building they were about to enter, and trying to clear his thoughts of the 'presence' that had been in the back of his head, and steadily growing. It now felt as if he was right on top of the presence, and it was driving him nuts.  
Finally the unheard signal came, and everyone headed into the building. Doug's companion did his best to clear his thoughts, and followed.  
Once inside the building, several soldiers's had to control their gag reflex. The combined stench of unwashed bodies, decaying bodies, and blood nearly had several men lose their lunch. The only two people who didn't have this problem were Doug and his friend, the two with the most sensitive noses by far. Doug looked over at his friend, who had yet to draw a weapon, and noticed the smile of grim humor on his face as he studied the soldiers.  
After a moment, everyone had become more or less accustomed to the smell, and continued onward.  
After the second door was opened to a deserted room, Doug started to get suspicious.  
"Something's wrong. We should have run into something by now."  
Doug looked at his companion in inquiry, but his companion merely shook his head.  
"There's some kind of magical interference in here. I can't pick up a damn thing."  
Doug nodded and watched as a soldier opened a door, and found the stairwell leading to the other floors. Several soldiers entered, and started to ascend to the other floors. Doug's companion followed.  
"I'll take the third floor. Pass the word to keep everyone off that floor."  
Doug nodded and did just that. A moment later they came to the last room to check on this side of the first floor.  
The doors were large, and made out of solid oak. After studying them a moment, Doug nodded and two soldiers slowly unlatched the doors. Once they were a centimeter or two open, they kicked them, sending the doors flying open. -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- _-_-_-  
  
By another coincidence, the Hellsing troops had done nearly the exact same thing as the Dark's Bane. They had checked all of the room's on this side of the floor, and now had decided to search the central room. Seras had also headed up to the third floor a minute ago, also leaving instructions to stay off of that floor. -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- _-_-_-  
  
On the roof of a building three blocks away, a rather powerful vampire used the spying spells he had placed all over the building to watch both Hellsing and Dark's Bane. He grinned rather sadistically as he saw what was about to happen. -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- _-_-_-  
  
The Hellsing troops kicked open the doors just as the Dark's Bane troops did the same. The thirty or so ghoul's in the room came to life, and with a combined howl, charged the two groups.  
The ghoul's were then ruthlessly cut down in a vicious crossfire from both sides.  
One would think that the machine gun fire would then cease. However, both sides had several stray bullets whiz by them. They reacted the only way trained soldier's can: They took cover, and returned fire. -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- _-_-_-  
  
The Vampire three block's away had to use all of his self-restraint to keep himself from laughing. The scene on the first floor of the building was repeated on each and every floor above except the third floor. The vampire focused his attention on that floor, a smile tugging at the corners of his dead lips.  
This would prove to be very interesting. -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- _-_-_-  
  
Doug's companion and Seras both reached the third floor just as the gunshots from all the other floors rang out. Simultaneously, they kicked down the door's leading onto the third floor. They found themselves in a rather large, single room, instead of seven. They also found themselves facing nearly a dozen vampires, and about two-dozen ghouls.  
For a moment, everyone froze. Then Doug's companion drew two desert eagle handguns, and Seras used the pump action of her shotgun to load a shell.  
All hell proceeded to break loose.  
Doug's companion moved to the left, firing off rounds, each one striking a ghoul in the heart, disintegrating them instantly. Seras moved off to her left, taking aim and firing off a single round. The solid sliver slug tore a rather large hole through three ghouls before stopping in the fourth. All four disintegrated.  
The rest of the ghoul's went down soon after, and all that was left were the vampire's, much faster, and smarter.  
However, they still went down just as fast.  
Doug's companion emptied a clip into the nearest vampire. He turned away, reaching into his coat with the now empty handgun. When his hand reappeared, the gun was once again gone. He didn't even flinch as he brought up the other gun and placed a bullet into a vampire's heart as it jumped at him. Both vampires disintegrated. Two more vampires jumped at him, and they both died before they got anywhere close too him, courtesy of his firearm.  
Seras was being just as efficient with the vampires on her end. One charged at her, and she waited till he was close before punching him in the face and lining him up with another vampire. She then placed the shotgun over the first vampire's heart and pulled the trigger. The slug tore through the first vampire's chest, and continued on to the second vampire. Both disintegrated after a moment. Two more died via shotgun slugs before they could blink as Seras swiveled the gun between the two with crack shot accuracy.  
With two shots left in the shotgun, Seras turned and punched another vampire in the face, and while it was disoriented, grabbed it, and shoved it into another that was charging. She then placed the barrel over the vampire's heart and pulled the trigger, killing both.  
Doug's friend put two bullets in another vampire that charged, one in between the eyes, and another into the heart. As the vampire disintegrated, he flattened his hand, finger's extended. He then pivoted and thrust his arm out to behind him and slightly to his left. The vampire that was in mid jump was impaled onto his hand, dieing instantly.  
As the vampire disintegrated, Doug's companion turned, bringing his gun up as he did so, and faced Seras, as she did the same.  
Two sets of eyes widened as the buzzing in both of their heads, muted in the rush of battle, came back with a vengeance. For a moment, it seemed as if both of them would fall to their knees, but as abruptly as the buzzing came, it vanished, leaving both Seras and Doug's companion confused. As a result, neither lowered their guns, and both tightened their grip on the triggers.  
Seras studied the blond haired young man over the barrel of her shotgun. She was confused, and so she studied him, but nothing much registered in her brain. She noticed how he was gasping for breath, and apparently wide-eyed, just as she herself was. She noticed how he was using a gun, and no vampire or ghoul had been armed with one so far. She also noticed the black jacket, extending just past the man's hips, and the black tank-top underneath, and how she had seen the silver symbol for Dark's Bane on the back of the man's jacket. The same symbol was etched into the man's belt buckle. She noticed all of these things. But the only thing to register in her shocked mind was the fact that the young man across from her was a vampire.  
The young man went through nearly the exact same thing as Seras. He noticed her uniform, the Hellsing crest on said uniform, and how she was using a weapon. But the only thing to register was that she was a vampire.  
Both knew what to do when they encountered a vampire: Shoot first, ask later. But for some reason, neither could pull the trigger.  
They both tried several times, but all that happened was they stood there for several minutes, shaking slightly, guns pointed at each other. Neither noticed the gunfire in the background, or the fact that they were being watched by a now very curious vampire.  
The stalemate was finally broken after a moment when the radio receiver in their ears suddenly came to life, screaming at them.  
"ALL UNITS CEASE FIRE!!!"  
Unfortunately, this had the opposite effect on the two vampires. Instead of not firing at each other, they were both off like a shot. Literally.  
Seras used the last slug in her shotgun, just as Doug's companion used the last bullet in his handgun. Both then dropped and rolled forward, under the bullets fired at them.  
Doug's companion and Seras came to their feet at the same time, but Seras was quicker, coming out of the role, and lunging forward, planting her shoulder in the young man's gut. With a grunt, he released the gun in his right hand.  
As the young man stumbled back, Seras swung the shotgun out and smashed the barrel into the young man's face, knocking his sunglasses off. She brought the shotgun around for another swing, but the young man back- flipped out of the way, and with another back-flip he propelled himself halfway across the room.  
As he landed, Doug's companion assumed a fighting stance that was completely foreign to Seras. She tossed the now useless shotgun aside, its barrel bent at the wrong angle, and charged.  
As she ran, she pulled back her fist, ready to plant it in the young man's face. When she was close enough, she threw the first punch, only to have the young man catch her relatively small hand in one of his much larger ones.  
Seras didn't blink as she drew back the other fist and threw it forward, only to have it caught as well.  
Seras would've tried kicking him next, except the young man beat her too it, pulling her forward by her hands, and bringing his knee up into her gut. The air exploded out of Seras's lungs, but didn't affect her as it would a human. However the fist impacting her face as she stood up did, sending her halfway across the room, and snapping her glasses in two.  
Seras hit the ground and rolled up to her feet. Her eyes widened in shock as the young man blew past her, his arm extended to clothesline her. Seras immediately performed the limbo, bending backwards, underneath the arm. This would've worked had the young man not brought his arm down onto Seras's neck, smashing her to the floor.  
The young man backed off a bit, letting Seras get back to her feet. Once she was standing again, she turned and eyed him warily, seeing he was once again in his combat stance. Seras went into her own combat stance, one taught to her when she was a police officer.  
She was thrown slightly off when the young man spoke.  
"Former police officer?"  
Seras nodded.  
"Name's Matt. Nice to meet you."  
"Seras Victoria. It's a pleasure."  
That said, both charged again.  
Seras blocked a high punch from Matt, but was caught off guard by his low sweep. As a result, her feet flew out from under her, and she landed rather hard on her left side. She took advantage of being on the ground, and struck out with her right leg, hoping to trip Matt. Instead, he merely jumped up and back, taking himself out of her range. Seras used the time to climb back to her feet.  
Once again, Seras eyed Matt warily as he squared off with her.  
Seras didn't know how the fight changed, but now if felt like a friendly, if rough, sparring match.  
Seras charged again, opening the skirmish with a two-punch, one kick combo. Her left hook missed as Matt tilted his head back, and he blocked her right jab with his forearm. When Seras swung her left leg up to kick him in the side of the head, Matt caught her leg. Before Seras could do anything, she was hoisted into the air, and thrown into a nearby wall.  
Seras felt the wall give way behind her as she slammed into it. As she fell to the floor, bits of plaster fell around her, accompanied by a metal pipe, about as long as Seras's arm.  
Seras grabbed the pipe as she stood. Matt eyed the pipe in her hands warily, as she held in front of her in a two handed grip.  
Seras charged, the pipe held in front of her. When she was close enough, she drew back and swung at his legs. Matt jumped the pipe, then had to catch it as Seras bought it back around in an overhead swing. As Matt landed, legs spread shoulder width apart, Seras made the first move, kneeing him in the groin. There was a slight widening to his eyes, and a small grunt but nothing else.  
"Okay, now that's low."  
Seras merely shrugged at his statement.  
Matt shifted his grip on the pipe, then ripped it from Seras's hands, and swung it into her gut. Seras was driven back from the blow, and narrowly ducked another swing at her head.  
Seras backed off as Matt took another stance, this time with the pipe held before him.  
An idea suddenly occurred to Seras, and she rushed forward. Matt swung at her, and this time Seras made no effort to get out of the pipes way, merely raising her left arm, and letting the pipe smash into her ribs. There was a sickening crack as a rib or two gave way, but Seras ignored it, and the searing pain.  
Matt's eyes widened slightly as Seras lowered her left arm, and spun, the pipe trapped against her. This maneuver wrenched the pipe from Matt's hands, and Seras dropped to the floor. Right before Matt jumped back, Seras shoved the pipe between his legs. As Matt jumped, the pipe tripped him up, and he fell hard to the floor.  
Seras was on top of him in an instant, punching him repeatedly while his defenses were down.  
It took Matt a second to recover his wits, and when he did, he placed his hand on Seras's chest and shoved her away. As she fell off of him, Matt rolled to the side, and came to his feet. He then immediately ducked as the pipe sailed through the airspace occupied by his head a moment before.  
A stand off once again ensued as Seras came back to her feet after throwing the pipe.  
The standoff lasted for a minute or two before disaster stuck for Seras: One of the doors that she and Matt had entered through suddenly flew open, and Seras looked to see whom the new arrivals were. She only realized her mistake when it was too late.  
Seras's eyes snapped back to Matt, but he had already cleared the distance between them.  
Matt's left hand shot out, followed by his right, which punched Seras rather firmly in the face, sending her flying back a few feet.  
When Seras cleared her vision of the little stars, she looked at Matt and found standing above her, with her gun in his left hand pointed at her heart.  
"THAT'S ENOUGH!"  
Both Matt and Seras started, looking to the source of the voice.  
Doug glared right back at them, with Hellsing's commanding officer right next to him.  
"Why the hell did you two start shooting when we both ordered a cease fire?!"  
Matt simply shrugged at Doug's question before helping Seras to her feet, and returning her gun. -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- _-_-_-  
  
After the fighting had stopped, Dark's Bane had moved the SUV's to the front of the building, joining the Hellsing's AGT. Now all that was left before going home was packing away ammunition, and weaponry. Because of this, nearly everyone was running around.  
One of the few exceptions was Seras, who sat on a nearby bench, watching. In particular, her gaze was resting on Matt, as he leaned up against a SUV, talking to Doug. Seras's vampire hearing could barely make out the words.  
"Well Matt, we're almost ready to go. Another minute or two, and we can go to Hellsing manor two days early."  
"Cool. So, was there any damage from the firefight?"  
"Luckily no. Both sides came through un-scathed."  
Matt nodded, and Seras noted with a small note of satisfaction that he moved quite gingerly.  
"So Matt, what do you think of that vampire lady? Cute eh?"  
Seras could practically hear the 'nudge nudge, wink wink.'  
"Yeah, she is. But trying to kill each other isn't the best groundwork for a relationship Doug."  
"Hey, anything can happen. Sides', she was eyeing you back there."  
"Riiiiiiiiiiight."  
"You have to trust me with this stuff Matt. Just do what I say, and she'll be all over you."  
"Uh huh. Sure."  
Doug nodded, and started to walk away.  
"You do realize she heard every word of that, right Doug?"  
Doug simply nodded, a grin on his face.  
Matt shook his head at his friend's antics, and concentrated on healing the bruises he had just received. Seras packed quite a punch, though she lacked the proper training. With the proper training Seras could become a force to be reckoned with, much more powerful than she was now. As it was, she wouldn't last long against Matt if he didn't hold back as much as he had.  
Matt was soon lost in considerations of Seras. All too soon he was dragged back to the real world with a reminder of just how real it was.  
Someone was watching him.  
Matt suddenly moved away from the SUV in a run. After about ten steps, he leapt up to the roof of the building, and as he landed, he picked up his pace of running, leaping to the next building when he reached the edge of the roof.  
Seras gasped in surprise when she saw Matt suddenly move, and she found herself on her feet running after him before she knew what was going on. She was stopped by an iron hard grip on her shoulder, and she wheeled around to find herself face to face with a very serious Doug.  
"Don't even try. Not even I can keep up with him when he does this."  
Seras didn't bother replying verbally. Instead, she broke his grip, and charged after Matt, using her senses to pinpoint his location.  
(Damn. He's already five blocks away!) -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- _-_-_-  
  
Matt slowed down as he came to another building's edge. Instead of jumping to the next building, he instead dropped down into the alley.  
The surprise attack came as he was falling, aimed directly at his face.  
Matt didn't flinch as his arm snapped out and caught the sword thrown at him by the hilt.  
He landed, and glared at the man before him, a sword in each hand, and a crazed grin on his face.  
"Oh hell, not you again. Man, can't I ever get rid of you?!"  
"I'm afraid not, demon! You are not long for this world, so what should it matter to you?"  
That said, Alexander Anderson charged Matt, swords held at the ready. -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- _-_-_-  
  
End Chapter 2.  
  
So what do you think? Please review.  
  
Oh yeah, I have some responses for the reviews submitted for chapter one:  
  
Right, first I would like to apologize for any offense my first summary may have caused. I was in a sour mood, and a little desperate for reviews, since another fic I had posted hadn't gotten one, and still hasn't...  
  
Secondly, those of you who wanted me to instant message you, I'm sorry for not doing so yet. I'm having a bit of trouble figuring out how it works.  
  
Alucard's Familiar: Thanks for notifying me about the mistake with Anderson's name in the first chapter. I have fixed that.  
  
BlueMew: Thanks for also notifying me about Anderson's name. But Seras, and the other vampire she chooses to be included in the deal, with refer to him as Alex, since they will be business partner's, of a sort. I'm sorry if the chapters are too long. This one should be a bit shorter, but I'm still debating whether to make it the norm, or just end the chapter when I think it should end. As for the werewolves, I have never seen, or heard of, the series of Underworld, so I have no idea about how they screwed it up. I hope that my interpretation of werewolves will be acceptable to you and the others who read this fic.  
  
h4x: The handgun in the summary was indeed Alucard's that I borrowed. However, I was unaware of its specific weight, since I only remember them saying the gun's weight in Kilo's, and I didn't have a conversion scale with me right then.  
  
Right. Thank you one and all for the reviews. 


	3. The Other Vampire

Chapter 3: The Other Vampire  
  
Anderson came in fast and hard, swinging the sword in his left hand in a horizontal slash aimed at Matt's neck, while stabbing forward with the other sword, aiming at Matt's stomach when he was standing.  
As Matt dropped down under the first slash, he threw himself to the side to avoid the thrust, which suddenly found itself aimed right between his eyes. As he rolled to avoid a downward slash, Matt shifted his grip on the sword he had caught, making it so the sword ran down the length of his arm. As he rolled to his feet, he met Anderson's rush head on.  
Anderson swung the sword in his left hand at Matt's neck, while swinging the other at Matt's knees, preventing Matt from ducking, or jumping. Matt surprised him by deflecting the left sword with the blade he had in his hand, then stepping forward. Anderson found his forward momentum stopped as Matt's action of stepping forward caused Anderson to crash into him. Matt was protected from the sword he hadn't deflected since he was now standing within Anderson's defenses.  
Anderson crooked his arms and prepared to drive his swords into his own chest, impaling Matt in the process. Before he could drive either sword home, Matt shot up on his tiptoes, and gave the taller Anderson a rather forceful head-but.  
As Anderson reeled from the blow, he suddenly felt a hand grab his shirt before he was hoisted into the air and throw into the brick wall of the alley.  
Anderson lay on the ground for a moment, collecting his wits, before forcing himself to his feet. Once standing, he took a step toward Matt, only to be driven back to the wall, with a searing pain in his chest, just to the right of his heart.  
Anderson looked down and blinked in surprise at seeing his own sword jutting out of his chest, pinning him to the alley wall.  
After a moment, he dropped the sword in his right hand, and pulled the sword out. He then threw the crimson stained blade at Matt, while retrieving his discarded sword and once again charging.  
Matt dodged to the left of the sword instead of catching it, and then waited for Anderson to reach him while the sword hit the ground with a clatter.  
A second later, Anderson had reached him, and started swinging and stabbing like mad, and Matt was forced to twist, turn, duck and jump to avoid the blessed blades. This lethal dance continued for another minute before Matt saw his opening.  
As Anderson raised both arms overhead, readying himself to bring them down in an x-slash, Matt's arms snapped out, grabbing both of Anderson's wrists as he brought his arms down. Before Anderson could realize what had happened, Matt tightened his grip and crushed the bones in both of Anderson's wrists, rendering his hands momentarily useless.  
As Anderson's eyes widened when the pain registered, Matt dragged him forward by the wrists, and brought his right knee up into Anderson's ribs, followed quickly by his left. Several cracks resounded in the alley as several of Anderson's ribs gave way under the blows.  
Matt released Anderson's wrists, and with a brief focusing of power, kept himself in the air while he brought both of his legs up to his chest. Once he was ready, he shoved both legs into Anderson's already weakened chest, sending the insane priest flying, as well as sending Anderson's broken ribs stabbing into his lungs. As Anderson crashed down, he coughed up a liberal amount of blood, which splattered over his clothes.  
After a moment of desperate coughing, Anderson shuddered and lay still, but Matt never took his eyes off of him for an instant.  
And for good reason.  
Anderson's body suddenly twitched, and a gout of blood fountained from his mouth to splatter over the ground and his clothes.  
Matt's eyes narrowed as he focused his power. In an instant, he had mentally grabbed the hilts of Anderson's three swords and raised them into the air. They hung there for a moment, a faint blue glow around each hilt, before all three blades suddenly flew up and stabbed down into Anderson's abdomen, pinning the priest to the ground, and earning another fountain of blood.  
For a moment, there was silence.  
Then Anderson started laughing.  
"Haha...haha HA HA HA HA!!"  
"You always start laughing at the weirdest times. Most people wouldn't laugh when both their own ribs and their own blessed swords have punctured their lungs. Not to mention your wrists are shattered, and you've lost enough blood that even you've gotta be dizzy."  
Anderson didn't verbally respond. Instead, he lifted his right hand, which hung at a lopsided angle, and somehow managed to close most of his fingers. Matt couldn't help the dark grin that spread across his lips at Anderson's antics.  
Here he was, pinned to the ground by his own swords, covered with blood, his wrists shattered, and he finds a way to give Matt the finger.  
(Figures.)  
"I've got better things to do than beat on a regenerator that doesn't know when to quit. Till next time Anderson."  
With that, Matt turned and walked away, back toward the shadows deeper in the alley.  
But he didn't get five steps before he had to throw himself to the side as a blessed sword flew through the space he had occupied.  
Matt climbed to his feet and turned to see Anderson standing, covered in blood, with a sword once again in each hand.  
"Bad tactics to turn your back on an opponent before the fights over."  
Anderson then threw his arms to the side, making his body look like a rather large, lopsided, and bloody cross, before bring his arms in and making another cross with his swords.  
Matt, realizing what Anderson was doing, reached into his jacket and withdrew the required item, just as Anderson finished his spell.  
In an instant, dozens of papers flew out, and were pinned to the wall by throwing knives at a uniform ten feet apart on both sides of the alley.  
Matt's eyes narrowed as he felt all of his powers abruptly vanish.  
(Time for the real fight.)  
Anderson stood to his full height and studied his opponent.  
Matt stood about 30 feet away, apparently completely relaxed, with the exception of his eyes, which were narrowed and burning with intensely controlled rage. His left hand was placed against his waist, while his right hung loosely at his side, with the item he had drawn.  
Matt shifted down into the same stance he had faced Seras with earlier that night when he had gained the pipe from her, and held his sword before him in a tight, two handed grip. At that moment, there was a break in the cloud's above, and the moonlight filtered down onto the blade of his katana, and the light refracted onto the walls of the alley, making both Matt's and Anderson's shadows appear as two demons, each poised to fight.  
Anderson briefly marveled at the shadows abilities to show what was truly happening at that moment, without lies, and at the same time make it all darkly and terribly beautiful.  
With silent agreement, Matt and Anderson charged each other.  
  
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Seras Victoria ran with everything she had, and in the back of her head, she was grateful that the streets were all but empty. Otherwise people would've marveled at the girl who would've been outrunning cars for the past ten minutes.  
As Seras completed another block, and turned the corner, she finally started to slow down, nearing the alleyway about half way down the block. As she got closer, she heard a sound that wasn't unlike silver chimes, echoing in a series of beautiful but deadly notes.  
Once she reached the alley, she ventured down it, entering the purified area. She strained her eyes and ears, since her vampire senses no longer worked, as she walked down the dark alley. As she got further into the alley, she pulled out her gun, clicking the safety off, and loading a bullet into the chamber.  
As she rounded a dumpster, Seras found who she was looking for. Matt and Alex were engaged in a sword fight, which explained the chimes, and both were illuminated by the moonlight as they fought.  
For a moment, Seras simply stared at them, marveling at how they seemed to be cast from liquid silver in the light, with the exception of their eyes, Matt's a violent crimson and Alex's an insane emerald green, and listening to the chimes of their swords as they clashed. They both moved with such speed and grace that it seemed more of a dance than a deadly fight, and she realized just how outclassed she had been earlier against Matt. Here he showed himself to be on a whole different level when it came to fighting than Seras.  
Matt's blade suddenly struck Alex in the side, leaving a deep gash as Matt dragged it across Alex's body. Seras snapped out of her daze as she saw the blood trailing the sword into the air, and covering the tip. She then noticed the other injuries on both fighters. Matt had a few minor cuts on his chest and arms, and one on his face. They didn't bleed much, but still enough to stain his clothes with blood, which appeared nearly black in the moonlight. Alex was also wounded, with several gashes, these much deeper than the ones on Matt, and slightly more in number.  
Seras decided that now was a good time to stop before Alex was cut apart by an obviously superior opponent.  
BLAM!!  
Matt and Alex reflexively jumped away from the bullet, though it was merely aimed between them, and turned to face this new threat. Both paused as they saw Seras standing before them, smoking gun still in hand and ready to be pointed at whoever attacked.  
"I think that's enough."  
Both Matt and Alex blinked and lowered their weapons slightly.  
Alex spoke first, his voice confused.  
"But Seras..."  
Seras cut him off.  
"Remember the other vampire of my choice that you said you would not attack Alex?"  
When Alex nodded, she continued.  
"He's the one I choose."  
Alex blinked in surprise before nodding. He may have thought that Seras would've taken a while longer to decide, but he had no qualms with Matt as an ally. After all, Alex knew from first hand experience just how dangerous Matt was, and although Alex didn't like Matt, Alex still respected Matt's power.  
Matt was slightly confused by what the two were talking about, but didn't show it. When Anderson suddenly pointed at Matt with one of his swords, Matt's own came up in response; ready to deflect any attack sent his way. However, instead of attacking, Anderson spoke.  
"Do you swear to come to my aid against a new evil when I call?"  
Matt's eyes appeared contemplative as he studied Anderson over the blade. After a moment, Matt nodded.  
"Good. Until battle once again brings us together. Matt. Seras."  
With that, Alexander Anderson put his swords away, inclined his head to each of them, then walked away, disappearing into the shadow's as the cloud's once again covered the moon.  
Matt blinked before saying, "Well, that's odd."  
  
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The vampire peered down into the alley as Anderson walked away, and Seras walked up to Matt, finally holstering her gun.  
Deciding that no new information could be gained with its continued presence here, the vampire turned away from the alley, and started walking across the roof. As it walked, it slowly turned into mist, before vanishing altogether.  
  
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Matt stared after Alex, contemplating the priests' behavior. He was slightly startled when Seras spoke.  
"What's odd?"  
"Hmm? Oh. Anderson's behavior. He never just stops' fighting like that and leaves, even if I have every advantage. I normally have to leave him momentarily helpless before I can leave."  
Seras nodded.  
"I know what you mean. I've watched him fight Alucard twice. The first time he stopped when Sir Integra appeared with an order from the Iscariot organization, the second time, he didn't stop until Alucard had blown off both of his arms and broken Alex's last sword."  
Matt nodded at Seras' words, and then studied the papers pinned to the walls.  
"You think he could've at least removed these before he left."  
Seras laughed a little before speaking again.  
"I think he doesn't know how to do it except for going around and manually taking each one off, and he's too lazy to do that."  
Matt chuckled at Seras' explanation before heading for the entrance to the alley.  
"Shall we away, Miss Victoria?"  
Seras smiled slightly while nodding, and they both left the alley, heading for Hellsing HQ.  
  
End Chapter 3.  
  
So, what do you think?  
  
For those of you hoping for a longer chapter, I apologize for it being so short. The next one should be a bit longer.  
  
Right, please review. 


	4. Getting Settled

Chapter 4: Getting settled.  
  
The Hellsing Manor was quiet at Night. Most of the operatives were sleeping, with only a select few awake. Those select few were the night watch and guard, and the resident vampires. One such vampire was currently looking at the portraits of the heads of Hellsing.  
Integra looked at her father's portrait with an expression of sadness on her face.  
The expression abruptly vanished when she heard the door behind her open. She whipped around, her mask back in place. She relaxed when she saw it was only Walter. He was the only person who was ever able to see Integra as she truly was. A person who still had feelings, who missed her father with all her heart, and everyday asked herself; 'am I honoring his memory?'  
Integra turned back to her father's portrait, and let the mask fall. She heard Walter maneuvering his wheelchair so that he sat to her left. Silence reigned for a minute as they both studied the portrait, remembering the man it showed.  
To one, he had been the best of friends, an ally, and a leader.  
To the other, he had been the strict, but absolutely loving father.  
"Do you think I did the right thing Walter?"  
Walter turned his head to look at Integra and saw her still studying the portrait with an odd expression on her face.  
"Becoming a vampire, I mean. It seems somehow ironic, and somewhat wrong, that a vampire leads the Hellsing house in its mission."  
Walter returned his attention to the portrait.  
"No more than having the best agent be the most powerful Vampire of all. I do know this, Miss Integra; No matter what your path, or your decisions upon it, your father would've been proud of you, and loved you. He always was. And he always will be. In heaven, he supports you in whatever you do. Remember that."  
Integra nodded, and looked down at Walter. He looked at her and saw the relieved expression on her face. Then the mask fell back into place. But there was something different. This time, the mask seemed somehow softer, but in a strange way, far more powerful than before. Integra nodded, then turned and left.  
Walter turned his wheelchair around and headed out of the room as well.  
  
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Elsewhere in the Hellsing mansion, another woman was reflecting on her past. The time period she was reflecting on was much closer to the present, however. More specifically, the last ten minutes, as she attempted to put her twin children to bed.  
Sam grinned slightly thinking of her children. They were always a handful, an occasionally aggravating and infuriating handful. Just like their father.  
Sam's grin grew as she smoothed back the hair from her son's forehead carefully. He shifted slightly in his sleep, as did his twin a moment later.  
Sam removed her hand, and stood. She walked away from her children's bed, and upon reaching the oak door, quietly opened it. She entered the room that the door led to and closed it just as quietly. She had learned the hard way that both of her children were VERY light sleepers, and would often wake at the slightest noise.  
She turned around and fully entered her room, seeing Doug sitting on the bed in a pair of sweat pants, his back to her. He wasn't wearing a shirt, and several scars on his back were visible. Sam also knew that there were several scars on the front on his body.  
Sam climbed onto the bed, a large queen size affair, and moved to behind Doug. She gently wrapped her arms around him and rested her chin on his left shoulder. She felt his well-muscled chest expand, and heard him take in a deep breath through his nose. She smiled slightly as he inhaled her scent.  
Sam closed her eyes and gently touched the scar on Doug's face. The breath he had just drawn in slowly was exhaled in a slight hiss. Doug raised his right hand and caught Sam's.  
Sam continued to trace the scar, Doug's hand still holding hers.  
While the scar merely looked straight and small, it wasn't. If Doug had been wearing a shirt, it would've hidden how the scar suddenly became much larger. The scar actually ran from Doug's temple, curved just below his ribcage, and finally tapered off just above and to the left of his navel. By the time their hands had reached the end of the scar, Doug was shivering slightly.  
Sam gripped Doug's hand hard. She knew why he was shivering. Knew that no matter what he did, no matter how many enemies he defeated, how many monsters he destroyed, that this was one he could never win against. Doug had lost one family, seen the mutilated bodies of his siblings and parents. He was always afraid that he would come home one day to discover the mutilated bodies of his wife and children.  
Sam merely held him, trying to reassure him through willpower alone that she was there, and she would always be there. Especially if she had anything to say about it. Doug received the unspoken message, and grinned. Yes, Sam would most definitely have something to say to the creature that would burst in through that door with killing intention. After all, if Sam could knock him around when she wanted to, there was nothing to say she couldn't do it to other things as well.  
Doug turned around to face his wife, still encircled in her arms, and kissed her. When he drew back he noticed something.  
"Aren't those my clothes?"  
Sam looked down at the clothes she was wearing and grinned. They were indeed Doug's, a ratty white t-shirt, and a pair of gray sweats, both worn, and thoroughly comfortable.  
"Why yes, they are. Why? Do you want them back?"  
Sam's grin changed slightly, as did Doug's, and Sam grabbed the bottom of the shirt, and started to pull it upward. She was stopped by Doug's hand.  
"Maybe later. Until then..."  
"'Until then' what?"  
Doug didn't answer verbally. Instead, he suddenly attacked Sam's sides viciously, making her shriek with laughter. She collapsed back onto the bed, and tried to move away from Doug, but he pinned her in place and continued to tickle her. He stopped a minute or so later to let her catch her breath. Sam took advantage of the respite, holding her sides and gasping for breath. She looked up at Doug, wary of a recommencement of the tickling. He grinned down at her, and crooked his fingers. He started to reach for her, Sam preparing a defense, when suddenly he stopped, his ear giving a slight twitch.  
Doug's grin suddenly widened, and he bent down toward her slightly. Sam could feel the muscles in his body tensing. He closed his eyes, and Sam could see his ears moving back and forth.  
Doug's eyes snapped open, and he back flipped off the bed, while still in a kneeling position, and landed in a crouch just behind one of the many couches spread around the room. Sam raised an eyebrow when she heard two identical squeals of surprise and Doug stood up, holding the twins, one in each hand, by the back of their shirts. Like kittens grabbed by the scruff of the neck, the twins hung there helplessly, looking at their mother with pleading eyes for help. Sam merely grinned at the twins as Doug walked over to the bed, twins in hand.  
"Now, mind telling me what you two were doing, sneaking in here?"  
The twins exchanged looks before one of them answered.  
"We heard mama laughing, and decided to see if we could ambush you two."  
Doug looked down at his son with a mixture of pride and humor on his face.  
"Ambush us, huh? Well then, in that case..."  
Doug and Sam traded duplicate grins before Doug tossed their daughter to Sam and set about tickling his son. Sam caught her daughter, pinned her to the bed, and mercilessly attacked her sides. The twin's laughter echoed in the room for a minute before things escalated.  
Doug's son, in an effort to get away from his father, crawled backward across the bed, Doug following, his fingers still crooked. The boy's hand came down on something soft that wasn't attached to the bed, and he grabbed it and swung it at his father. Doug reeled at the unexpected blow.  
Silence reigned for a moment as Doug's son looked at his father, then at the pillow he had just used on Doug, then finally back to Doug. Suddenly the boys face split into a delighted grin, and he stood up, drew his arms back, took aim, and let his father have it.  
Sam was laughing as Doug raised his arms in defense and tried to step away. But he tripped on the bed sheets, and tumbled off onto the floor, with his son in hot pursuit. Sam would've kept laughing had a pillow not hit her in the face. Sam's daughter laughed as she drew back her arms for another blow. Sam dived for a pillow, her arm at full extension. As her hand closed around one of the pillows, she felt the second blow from her daughter hit, but Sam shrugged it off, and swung the pillow she had just acquired. Her daughter stumbled back from the blow, and Sam grabbed another pillow.  
"Doug!"  
He looked up, dropping his guard for a second. His son jumped up and walloped him in the face and Doug stumbled back. He looked at his wife and she tossed him the pillow. Grinning his thanks, Doug went on the attack, ruthlessly beating his son down with the pillow. The boy retreated back to the bed, laughing as he got a swing in.  
Sam blocked a blow from her daughter, then swung in return. The child ducked under the blow, and darted away. Sam moved to follow but a pillow hit her backside and she yelped, swinging around to see her son grinning at her. Sam drew back her arms for a blow, but her daughter followed her twin's cue, and hit Sam with her pillow, again on the backside. Sam yelped again, and swung her pillow behind her. But she saw her daughter move into her peripheral vision out of the way of the attack. Sam suddenly knew that she was about to be double teamed by her children as they drew back their arms to take advantage of her defenseless stance.  
They had all completely forgotten about Doug.  
Doug came in, swinging like mad. One horizontal swing brought his son down, hitting him fully with the pillow, and laying the boy out flat on the bed. Doug tensed the muscles in his arms and chest, then brought the pillow back around, swinging it into his daughters face as the girl went to attack Sam. She joined her twin spread eagle on the bed.  
Sam grinned her thanks at her husband till she noticed the gleam in his eye. Sam started to bring her arms up in defense, but Doug's speed proved the deciding factor as the pillow hit her in the face with the force necessary to sprawl Sam out on the bed.  
"Bwahahahahahaha! I am the pillow fight KING!!"  
Doug struck what he obviously thought was a heroic pose, right leg fully extended slightly behind him, left leg crooked at the knee a bit, right hand on his hip, and left hand fully extended, pillow held high. He head was thrown back, with his golden eyes fixed on the pillow in his hand. His family looked at him for a moment before Sam spoke.  
"Yes. None of us could beat you single handedly."  
Doug nodded, coming out of his pose, and then froze. Something about that statement sent alarms in the back of his head ringing. He looked at Sam with a slightly worried grin to see a look of total innocence on her face. Doug was not reassured.  
"So we'll have to gang up on you! GET EM'!!!"  
"EEP!"  
Doug froze like a deer caught in headlights, then disappeared beneath the mass of his family as they pounced on him, pummeling him with their pillows. This continued for a moment until Doug decided to end it, and reclaim his title as the Pillow King.  
He watched his son draw back his arms, and tensed. At a crucial moment, Doug's arm snapped out, fingers fully extended and next to each other. There was a tearing noise as Doug's fingers tore through the pillow and down feathers flew about the room. Doug withdrew his arm and shot it out again, this time catching Sam's pillow. The pillow tore just like its brethren and feathers once again shot out to cover the room. Doug's daughter stood gaping at the mess for a moment. She snapped out of her shock when Doug calmly reached over and plucked the pillow from her hands. She blinked at her empty hands, then yelped with indignity as the pillow that was suddenly pilfered from her hands hit her back and sent her sprawling.  
All three looked up and grinned sheepishly at the sight of Doug standing above them, a pillow in each hand.  
Sam suddenly darted toward the bed in an attempt to gain another pillow, but Doug stopped her by throwing one of the pillows he had, and hitting her on the back. She pitched forward onto the bed, and rolled over onto her back, in reach of the pillows. Her fingers were just brushing one of the pillows when Doug landed on the bed, aimed perfectly so that all he had to do was sit down, straddling her waist, and pinning her to the bed.  
Doug threw the other pillow he had to the head of the bed, and then attacked Sam's sides with his fingers once again. Sam writhed beneath him, shrieking with laughter. As her arms were free this time around, she grabbed his wrists, and attempted to shove his arms away. Doug's greater strength made this a vain effort.  
"OOF!"  
Doug suddenly pitched forward, the twins having jumped on his back. This unexpected attack caused Doug to collapse onto Sam, who merely grinned up at him and caught her breath.  
Doug reached behind him with both of his arms and grabbed the twins. After placing them onto the bed, he rolled off of Sam and sat up, surveying everyone.  
"Good warm-up, what's next?"  
Sam didn't answer immediately. Instead, she sat up and pushed herself to the head of the bed, where she leaned against the headboard. She stretched her legs out before her, sighing as the muscles stretched a bit. The twins crawled over to their mother and sidled up next to her. Sam obligingly raised her arms, allowing the twins to lie against her sides. She then looked at Doug.  
"No more rough-housing tonight."  
Doug pouted, the twins following suit.  
"But mama, we're not a bit tired."  
Sam looked down at her son. Her attention then switched to her daughter as she spoke.  
"He's right, not a bit ti.."  
She was cut off mid sentence by a rather large yawn. It seemed that last attack against Doug had taken the last of the twin's reserves.  
Doug crawled up the bed, picking up his daughter as he took the spot she had just occupied to Sam's right. Doug leaned back against the headboard and raised his left arm. Sam took the invitation, and leaned against him, snuggling close as she moved her right arm behind him to grip Doug about the waist. Sam held her son to her with her left arm, the boy already asleep. Doug's daughter, also asleep, leaned against his left side, Doug's arm around her protectively.  
Sam looked around the room and winced at the mess.  
"We've been here less than five hours, and we've already torn the place apart."  
Doug chuckled, and kissed the top of Sam's head.  
"I have trained you all well."  
Sam punched him in the side for that comment, then drifted off to sleep, Doug soon following.  
  
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Elsewhere in the Hellsing Manor, Seras was walking the halls, bored out of her mind. She was currently trying to decide what to do.  
(Well, I could go to the gym and mock whoever's in there, I could visit Walter, I could go the firing range and mock whoever's in there...might as well go to the firing range. At least practicing with the guns does something."  
Seras set off with her destination in mind. For some unknown reason, she decided to take the long way around, which passed by the gym. Seras tucked her hands into the pockets of her skirt, and started walking lazily toward the firing range, gaze slightly focused on the path before her.  
After a few minutes of walking, Seras passed the gym and saw that the doors were open as usual. As she passed she glanced in and stopped dead.  
The gym was usually empty at night, and at first Seras thought it was empty, since the lights were off.  
But the gym had one occupant, who was apparently totally focused on mutilating one of the punching bags. Seras watched as the figure circled the punching bag, raining it with blows powerful enough to make the bag bend around the fist or foot as it impacted, then sway away violently, only to have the figure somehow move to the other side of the bag and hit it back the other way.  
Seras watched the figure closely and because of this she was able to catch a glimpse of his face when he moved through a shaft of moonlight, let in by one of the high windows.  
Slightly unruly blond hair framed the face of a seventeen year old with red eyes. The moonlight glinted off of the earring he had in his left ear, as well as the fangs, revealed by his slightly open mouth. A white tank top revealing well-muscled arms to great effect was tucked into a pair of baggy gray sweatpants, the cords tightened so they wouldn't fall. His hands and feet were bare.  
Seras found herself staring at Matt as he moved fluidly, lashing out with his right arm and burying his fist in the punching bag with enough force to break through a brick wall. The punching bag's only saving factor was that it could disperse the force by moving away slightly. With her vampire sight, she could see the muscles moving underneath the skin, tightening and loosening to bring his arm back.  
Matt stepped to the left as the bag made its return swing, and he drew his left leg up to waist height, and back, knee bent completely. Then Matt swung his leg out, impacting the bag. Matt's arms were both relaxed, his right crooked at the elbow at a ninety degree angle, his left extended behind him. His hands, Seras noted, were totally relaxed, fingers slightly crooked.  
Matt withdrew his leg and raised his hand to catch the bag as it came back. His arm absorbed the swinging force of the eighty-pound bag easily.  
Matt took a deep breath, then turned suddenly and looked right at Seras. Her eyes widened with surprise as she unexpected found herself looking him in the eye.  
Seras found herself overcome with a sudden bout of nervousness. She found herself fidgeting and mentally cursed herself for it. It wasn't until Matt broke the eye contact by looking at the punching bag and taking it down did the nervousness passed.  
If Seras had known that Matt had been feeling the same nervousness as she was, and had decided to put the bag away so he could break the eye contact, she might have been a bit heartened. But it still didn't change what she decided to do next.  
Seras walked into the gym over to Matt, who had swung the bag onto his shoulder and was currently walking over to the area that the bags were kept. After reaching the other bags, he swung the bag he was carrying over his shoulder and let it drop onto the ground. He then turned back around and leaned up against the bags, crossing his legs at the ankles, waiting for her. Seras closed the distance, and for a moment, silence reigned. Finally, Seras came up with a question and started a conversation.  
"Where'd you learn to fight like that?"  
Matt shrugged and crossed his arms before replying.  
"We've got a few martial arts instructors in Dark's Bane, and they taught me the basics of their styles."  
Seras looked at him quizzically.  
"Just the basics? What about the advanced moves?"  
"Something didn't feel right when they started to teach me the advanced moves, and I kept making mistakes. Since Doug had the same problem, he helped me solve my own. Taught me to make my own style, taking the basics I had learned, and improvising from there. I've been working at it for the past five years."  
Seras smiled slightly.  
"And here I thought the training I received at the academy made me a proficient fighter."  
Matt chuckled, closing his eyes slightly, and looking at the ground.  
"There's a difference between a proficient fighter, and a martial artist."  
"Ah yes, the 'inner power'."  
Matt looked up at her, his eyebrows raised. Seras laughed lightly.  
"Oh come on, you know! I've heard all martial arts styles are based on something, some form of movement, like an animal. Hence, a styles inner power that the fighter draws upon. I wonder what kind of power you use to fight."  
Matt grinned at her, displaying his fangs, when he suddenly moved. Seras didn't start in surprise, but it was a narrow thing. Instead she brought up her hand in an attempt to catch Matt's fist, or at least block the punch aimed at her face. The punch never came near her face; suddenly moving down to lightly hit her just beneath the ribcage. Seras backed away a few steps and glared at Matt. He laughed in response, then spoke.  
"Fire."  
"Huh?"  
"The inner power of my style is fire. You never know where a flame will move to next. Totally unpredictable, fire can be a gently crackling blaze one moment, a raging inferno the next, sweeping everything in its path aside with unrivaled speed and power. And it's nearly impossible to hit. Flame always seems to bend out of the way of anything that is sent its way, moving around the object, letting it pass unharmed, then turning on it and consuming it once it's passed."  
Seras' mouth formed a small 'O' of understanding as she contemplated what Matt said. After a moment, she looked at Matt, who was studying her.  
"Can you teach me?"  
Matt's first impulse was to refuse, but something made him give the idea serious thought. After a moment of thinking, he looked at Seras, taking in her height and making a guess at her weight. Finally, after keeping Seras waiting for a minute or two, Matt spoke.  
"Sure. But we can't start tonight. Or at least, not now."  
At Seras' confused look, Matt elaborated.  
"You've got the wrong kind of clothes on."  
Seras looked down at the clothes she was wearing. A red shirt exposing her midriff, a black mini-skirt, with black leggings that ended short of her skirt, as well as black arm coverings that left the last few inches of her upper arm exposed.  
"Try the wrong moves in that outfit, and you'll expose a lot more than you want."  
Seras looked back up at Matt with only a slight blush. She grinned at him as she spoke.  
"Strange, I thought this outfit would've made you more inclined to teach me."  
Matt blinked before grinning at her. He pushed off of the punching bag he was leaning against and walked out several feet so that he had some room to maneuver.  
"Well, if you want to train in that, go right ahead."  
He fell into a stance and beckoned her forward. Seras' grin faded.  
(Damn, he called my bluff.)  
"On second thought, no. If it's alright, I'd like to start training tomorrow."  
Matt's grin widened and he nodded. He came out of his stance and stood up to his full height. He then stretched his arms over his head, standing on tiptoe to stretch his legs as well. Seras suddenly realized just how tall Matt was. Seras stood at about 5'5", but Matt was a few inches over six feet, though he unconsciously slouched, which detracted quite a bit from his height. Matt fell back to his feet, and his shoulders slouched down, but Seras was still left with the impression of just how tall he was.  
"Ah. Well, then I'll see you tomorrow night."  
Matt nodded at her, and turned to leave.  
"Oh. One last question."  
Matt turned around to answer.  
"Earlier when we were fighting, and I...well..."  
"Used the cheap shot?"  
Seras nodded, a slight blush of embarrassment.  
"How did you come through that with no effect?"  
Matt grinned at her discomfort, and waved his hand lazily.  
"Nothin' to it. It's a type of focus that I've got. I simply ignore the pain to deal with later on. Works with everything."  
Seras nodded, and the two went their separate ways for the moment.  
  
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- _-_-_-  
  
Walter was, as usual, working. The fact that it was around three in the morning, and that he was at the moment handicapped made no difference to him.  
At the moment he was sitting in his wheel chair at his desk, typing away on his computer, designing specs for new weapons. The current weaponry were a request from Seras.  
Walter reached over to his left and picked up the cup of strong coffee. After taking a liberal gulp of the black liquid, he placed the cup back and prepared to start typing.  
Knock knock.  
Walter's head snapped up in surprise to look at the door. Most people simply came and went, never bothering to knock. Walter didn't really mind, since it wasn't his room.  
"Come in."  
The door opened and a bald man entered, a duffel bag thrown over one shoulder. He was wearing a black long sleeved shirt, and a pair of black jeans. A pair of sunglasses covered his eyes, but Walter didn't need the sunglasses removed to know that this particular man appeared to not even have eyes.  
Black entered, and looked around, studying the room. After a moment, he nodded and looked at Walter.  
"I hope I'm not interrupting."  
Walter shook his head to the negative and Black continued.  
"I've been looking for a room suitable to set up my workplace, and while I have found a few that would do, this room is by far the best. I was hoping that I could set up my equipment in here."  
"You're the weapon smith for Dark's Bane, correct?"  
"Among other things."  
"Well then, make yourself at home. This is my workplace where I design specialized weapons, and I'm sure we could come to a mutually advantageous arrangement."  
"It would be my pleasure and honor to work with you, Angle of Death."  
Walter gave no expression of surprise at Black knowing his old nickname, re-focusing on his laptop.  
Black walked over to a currently unused counter and placed his bag upon it. Black opened the bag and started to pull out various objects. At first Walter didn't pay much attention, as the objects would've easily fit into the bag. A binder, a laptop much like Walter's, a plastic box filled with floppy discs, an old book, and an old-fashioned treasure chest at least twice the bag's size. Walter's head snapped around as he caught the size of the object in the corner of his eye.  
Walter watched as Black easily maneuvered the chest onto the floor, sitting in front of a spot where there were no cupboards. Walter's mouth slowly fell open as Black started to draw forth more objects from the innocent looking black duffle bag.  
After nearly ten minutes of Black pulling out objects of both a technological and magical variety, some objects defying the laws of physics by even being able to fit past the bag's opening, Walter felt as if his jaw would never fit properly back into place.  
Black grinned upon seeing Walter's expression, and he walked over and patted Walter on the back. Walter's jaws shut with a snap, and he looked at Black out of the corner of his eye.  
"How did you DO that?"  
Black shrugged while his grin widened.  
"Practice."  
Walter felt a muscle in the back of his neck start to tick.  
  
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- _-_-_-  
  
Matt walked down the hallway of the catacombs of Hellsing Manor toward his room. His eyes were half closed and he slouched as he walked, giving an appearance of total laziness. It wasn't all that far from the truth as Matt was a rather lazy person, and he always felt rather sloth like after a training session. As the night was winding down, Matt had the idea to unpack and then sleep the day away.  
Matt's expression didn't change as he suddenly felt an unfamiliar presence. He continued to walk toward his room, and as he did so, he analyzed the presence. Darkness, with a foul, insane feeling to it, but with an overlay of cleanliness. After a moment, the image of a five- pointed star with symbols forming a circle around the star appeared in Matt's mind, formed of red energy. Matt stopped walking, and looked at the wall to the left and slightly in front of him.  
"Come on out 'Big Red.'"  
The wall seemed to ripple, turning to dark water for a moment, and He stepped out. Matt, like every hunter worth the name, had heard stories about the man in front of him.  
Much taller than Matt, wearing an old fashioned black suit with a blood red leather trench coat, he usually wore a wide brimmed blood red hat. Coupled with his red eyes, which were now visible, he had earned the nickname Big Red. His trademark insane grin in place, he stared down at Matt, and Matt felt the man's sheer presence, enough to dominate most people, whether they were Vampire or human. He was thin to the point of gauntness, but no one believed that appearance, since there were too many stories of his tearing buildings apart with his bare hands. The man's midnight black hair tapered off into a point just above the man's shoulders. The man's head tilted back, and his grin widened, his lips stretching to reveal his fangs in all their accursed glory. Before Matt stood the vampire widely accepted to be among the most powerful, if not the most powerful, in existence. The First Immortal.  
Alucard.  
"So you are the child of the night in Dark's Bane's employ."  
Matt felt Alucard's sheer presence sweep over him, the magical force of the Dead Lord enveloping Matt. Matt felt a pressure appear against the mental shields he had constantly erected, and he knew Alucard was attempting to read Matt's mind, no matter how passively.  
Alucard's expression didn't change, but Matt sensed the Dead Lord's irritation as the pressure on Matt's mental defenses increased.  
Matt's expression remained unchanged, lazy and bored, as the pressure continued to increase. Finally the pressure stopped increasing but remained, and Matt smirked internally.  
Suddenly the pressure vanished altogether. Alucard raised his right hand, and Matt spotted the white glove, the back decorated with a five- point star and symbols. Alucard gave Matt a mocking salute, and the sigil suddenly turned red.  
Matt felt magic appear below him, and he glanced down. The same five- pointed star on the back of Alucard's glove was now on the floor directly underneath Matt. It was large enough that Matt stood in the space made by the five lines.  
Matt's gaze returned to Alucard as red light drifted up from the sigil to surround Matt. He looked at the red light surrounding him unconcernedly.  
The light reached a new intensity, making Matt look as if he was in a pillar of blood, when suddenly there was a flash and the light vanished.  
Alucard looked at Matt, his expression unchanged. But Matt could feel the other vampire's curiosity, and glee.  
"Well, since the seal art didn't work..."  
Alucard reached into his jacket with his right hand and drew forth an obscenely big silver handgun. He pointed it at Matt, who looked on unconcerned.  
"...I'll have to destroy you."  
Alucard pulled the trigger, and time seemed to slow down as the rifle caliber bullet flew toward Matt. Alucard's eyebrows rose slightly as he felt a focusing of power from Matt and he suddenly...moved.  
Matt didn't blur, though some might think that he did. Alucard knew better. Matt simply was in one place, then he was in another, leaving behind a very clear after image, which seemed to be composed of very still water, with no ripple or movement of any kind.  
The bullet passed to the real Matt's right, through the after image, which faded away. Alucard looked into Matt's eyes, which had been lazy and calm a moment before. Now they were alert, and angry. Matt suddenly shot forward, leaving behind four after images, which faded as he got a certain distance away, only to be recreated anew. He covered the ground between Alucard and himself in a fraction of a second, and his right fist snapped out to collide with Alucard's chest, quickly followed by Matt's left fist, which gave Alucard a vicious uppercut, sending the taller vampire flying into the air.  
Time returned to normal for Alucard as he started his decent. He fell flat on his back, but instead of impacting the floor, he sank into it, reappearing seven feet behind Matt, shooting up from the floor so fast his trench coat continued upward for a moment when he stopped.  
Alucard stared at Matt for a second. Then his eyes widened, the muscles in his face going strangely taught, and the space right between his eyes grew darker. Matt's eyes narrowed.  
"Don't even bother. With your current level of restricted power, you can't beat me, no matter how hard you try. And since I'm not attacking you, or a human, the request to release some of the seal will be denied. And as I am not a part of Hellsing, trying to place the seal on me won't work. Did you forget that in order for that part of the restriction art to work, you have to be willing to have a member of the Hellsing household as your master?"  
Alucard's face relaxed and the dark energy he had gathered dispersed harmlessly.  
"Indeed. You may prove more interesting than I thought."  
Alucard reached into his coat with his hand, and returned the gun to its holster. He then turned and started to walk back into the wall.  
"Alucard!"  
He stopped and turned toward Matt, one half of his face in the wall, the other half still visible.  
"Don't try to place the seal on me again. If you do, I will give you several wounds that will not heal."  
Alucard raised one eyebrow at Matt's angry tone, then the other as he saw that Matt was holding a katana. Alucard's interest rose even more as he realized two little facts that should've made it rather impossible for Matt to be holding the sword.  
The first, and more obvious, fact was that Matt hadn't had the sword on him before now, and there wasn't enough room in his sweats to hold the sword and allow him to move around like he did.  
The second reason was far more puzzling. That sword was filled to the brim with holy magic, as well as being a silver blade. Merely touching the hilt with the tip of his finger should've taken Matt's hand and forearm off with the amount of power he was currently channeling.  
Alucard didn't nod, or give any kind of response that he had even heard Matt. He simply faced forward once again, and walked through the wall.  
Matt looked at the spot where Alucard had vanished, and then he turned and continued walking to his room. As he walked, the sword in his hand slowly turned into mist, which was absorbed into his arm.  
After a little while of walking, Matt came to his room. The room was practically bare. A four-poster coffin rested in one corner, with a non- descript table, and an equally non-descript dresser, were the only things in the room. A quick magical scan and he discovered that the room had no magical defenses. At all.  
"Hmm...This just will not do."  
  
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- _-_-_-  
  
Integra entered her office. She shut the door behind her, and looked around. In the early hours of the morning, the office was lit with only natural light, giving everything a pale, ethereal look.  
Integra walked over to her desk, and sank into the rather large chair behind it. Integra looked around her office again, her new eyes showing her things that she had never before seen. Such as a table across the room, with a scratch on one of its legs, or how the painting of her great- grandfather had a finger print in the upper left corner. Such trivial things, yet now that she could see them, they drew her eye as if they had some great importance to her.  
She reached out with her hands, picked up a match with her right, and a cigar with her left. As she lit the match, her face was thrown into sharp detail, the light from the match illuminating her face.  
As the flame of the match came into contact with the cigar, Alucard stepped into the room.  
Integra studied Alucard over the cigar as the flame from the match took, and the cigar lit. Before she removed the match, Alucard looked her in the eyes, and he was struck by how the light was reflected by her crimson eyes. It seemed as if the match light reflected in her eyes represented her indomitable will, which was constantly burning within her.  
"Why did you attack Dark's Bane's vampire?"  
Alucard grinned.  
"It's the first time that I've felt a vampire with his power that safeguards humans."  
Integra took a long, slow drag on her cigar.  
"Incognito served a human master, just like you and-"  
"He doesn't serve a human master."  
Alucard walked over to the window, his grin widening. As he passed Integra's desk, he dropped a blood packet onto it.  
"Matt has erected impressive magical shields around his mind. At my current sealed level of power, I could not break through. But I can judge his power."  
Integra leaned back into her chair, and exhaled the smoke from the cigar. After a moment, she motioned Alucard to continue.  
"His power level is very high. I would need to unlock the seal to level three to deal with him if all it came down to was sheer power."  
Alucard tilted his head back, interest and glee filling his voice as his grin grew, displaying his fangs. His eyes were wide, his entire body was tense, and he continued.  
"No, it is his skill. He knows more about vampire magic than any vampire except an elder. He even knows a trick that I thought only one vampire knew. Battling with him will be an unrivaled pleasure."  
Integra looked at Alucard out of the corner of her eye. She returned her attention to her desk as she took one last drag on the cigar and then put it out. She picked up the blood packet, and popped the top off of the straw, then slowly drank the red liquid within.  
"Alucard, you are not to attack Matt so long as he is an ally. If he betrays us for any reason, then you may battle with him. But until then, steer clear of him. I will not have you running the risk of turning Dark's Bane into an enemy. They don't recognize territorial boundaries, and fighting with them would be disastrous for Hellsing at this point."  
Alucard gave no indication that he had heard her. But he relaxed, and his eyes closed lazily. His fangs were once again hidden by his lips, which were now drawn into a small grin.  
"And you, Master Integra, must not overuse your powers to spy on me as you did this evening. Such activity could cripple you for a time."  
Integra drained the last of the blood, and dropped the empty packet into the waste bin. She then pushed back her chair and stood up, turning to her room, which was adjacent to her office.  
"Very well Alucard. Good day."  
There was no answer, and out of the corner of her eye, Integra could see that Alucard was already gone.  
  
:Author's Notes:  
  
Sorry for the long wait between updates. My computers being a pain. Hopefully I should have the next chapter up much sooner.  
  
Anyway, what cha' think?  
  
Also, one last thing. To the anonymous reviewer 'I': This is my story, written as a continuation with how I interpreted the series and characters. If you disagree with me, then convince me through the use of logic, NOT simply saying 'you are wrong'. Your review of 'you shouldnt have seras not liking alucard' was a waste of both your time and mine.  
  
Right. Sorry about that, but the above reviewer just rubbed me the wrong way. Totally useless.  
  
Till next chapter then. 


	5. Missions, Missions, and Really Big Guns

Chapter 5: Missions, Missions, and Really Big Guns.  
  
Seras kicked down the door, and quickly scanned the room, spotting only a few rotting corpses, as well as another door. She entered the room, her MP5 at the ready, Doug a step behind her. They both scanned the room again as a few Hellsing soldiers entered after Doug. Then they both headed for the other door, the soldiers following, but pausing to shoot the corpses to make sure they wouldn't rise again. Seras, Doug, and the Hellsing soldiers paused at the door, eyeing it warily. Seras glanced at the men gathered with her, and they all nodded that they were ready. Seras nodded in return, and then kicked down the door.  
Howls echoed as ghouls charged the door, and Seras backed up, aiming her MP5, the Hellsing soldier's doing the same. Doug merely narrowed his eyes, drawing forth a nine millimeter hand gun, but not aiming. Seras didn't notice as she and the soldiers opened fire, spraying the ghouls with hot silver as they neared the door. Soon the last ghoul had turned to dust, and Doug hurried into the room, bringing up his gun. Seras quickly followed, placing the MP5 to her shoulder.  
Entering the room, Seras saw that the room was quite large and that the floor was littered with blood, furniture broken apart into small pieces, and pieces of rotting flesh. There was a sucking sound, one Seras had come to identify as a vampire feeding, and she quickly scanned the room for its source. After a moment, she found it.  
Crouched in the corner of the room was a young boy, no more than 10 years old, and the corpse of a girl. Seras couldn't guess at the girl's age as half her face was missing as well as everything from the waist down. The boy had his mouth clamped quite firmly to the girl's throat, and was sucking for all he was worth. He totally ignored Doug and Seras for a moment, then snapped his eyes to them, his mouth still clamped to the girl. Seras blinked at the sight of the boy's eyes.  
The eyes said that the boy was totally insane.  
It wasn't the insanity of Alucard. This was the insanity of a wild beast, consumed by bloodlust. Seras felt a moment of pity for the boy's soul as she aimed her MP5 and fired.  
The boy instantly dropped the girl, and flung himself across the room, moving so quickly that he was gone before the bullets even came close to him. The bullets kept moving, tearing through the girls flesh and keeping her from turning into a ghoul.  
The soldier's eyes widened and Doug gestured them back. He and Seras would have to take care of this.  
Seras turned to follow the boy, surprised at his raw speed as he slid to a stop. Doug also turned, eyeing the boy with an unreadable emotion in his eyes. The boy looked at them and hissed, his fangs stained pink from blood. He crouched down onto all fours, and moved to the left, slowly. Seras followed him with her MP5, keeping him in its sights. She idly wondered why Doug was doing the same, but shrugged it off and fired.  
The boy was once again gone before the bullets came even close. But as he started to move, Doug took aim with his gun and pulled the trigger once. The bullet flew on a perfect intercept course, aimed right where the boy would be in the apex of his jump. The bullet flew true, and would have taken the boy in the chest, but the diminutive vampire suddenly flipped over in the air, making Seras gape at his show of acrobatics, and the bullet flew harmlessly by his mid air twisting body. He landed on all fours perfectly, and leapt forward, this time at them, his fangs bared. Doug calmly reached over, grabbed the back of Seras' uniform, and dragged her out of the way.  
The vampire flew past, taking a swipe at Seras with its right hand, before landing on its hands and swinging around to face them. It hissed as Doug raised his gun and fired two shots at it, the first straight at it, and the second in its path as it leaped away. Doug growled in the back of his throat as it once again flipped over in midair to avoid the bullet.  
"What in the hell IS it?!"  
Doug answered Seras' question without taking his eyes off of the vampire.  
"It's a vampire totally consumed by the bloodlust that plagues them all. He's no more than a beast in there, wild and dangerous to everyone, even other vampires. Mostly vampires have strong magic, and can do a multitude of things."  
The vampire once again lunged, and this time Doug fired a bullet in its path before dragging Seras out of its way. The vampire twisted in midair, but the bullet grazed its thigh as it flew past.  
"But vampires like this can only use their magic for one thing: Augmenting their physical abilities, and instincts. He can't perform any other magic because he doesn't realize he has the ability anymore. He's just a very powerful beast, totally consumed by his need for blood. This makes him all the more dangerous. Any ghouls that rise from his blood drinking are also beasts, seeking flesh to eat and nothing else. And because the vampire drinks blood constantly, he creates ghouls at a rate much greater than most vampires."  
Seras would've nodded at Doug's explanation, but the vampire lunged at them, much faster than before, hands extended and formed into claws. Doug shoved her out of the way, and dove to the side himself. The vampire flew past, the force of his jump carrying him to the wall, where his hands absorbed his momentum easily. He placed his feet on the wall, and prepared to launch himself at Doug.  
"Damn it, where's Matt when you need him?"  
In reply, Seras merely took aim, but she could've sworn she heard a whisper.  
"Your wish is my command."  
Just before the vampire launched himself from the wall, the spot just over his left shoulder suddenly darkened, and seemed to liquefy. An arm, clothed in a white jacket sleeve, with a black glove covering the hand, shot out of the hole, and wrapped around the vampires neck, effortlessly pinning the thrashing undead to the wall.  
Doug rose to a crouch and took aim with his gun, and pulled the trigger twice. The two bullets tore into the vampire's skull and heart, and the undead boy turned to ash. Doug rose the rest of the way to his feet as did Seras and they both looked at the arm as it waved cheerfully at them then disappeared into the wall. Doug growled as he changed the magazine of his gun.  
"'Bout damn time you showed up."  
  
Out in the street, Doug retrieved a black duffel bag he had dropped before entering the building as the Hellsing soldiers and Seras headed for the AGT. Just before all of them boarded their mode of transport, another soldier of Hellsing, charged with keeping the area outside the building secure, ran up to Seras and conferred with her quickly. She waved Doug and Matt over, who obliged, and the three of them formed a small huddle while Seras relayed a message from HQ.  
"Walter sends a message that they've located another vampire building, with LOTS of ghouls."  
Doug considered for a moment before speaking.  
"You and the Hellsing soilders should head back to the mansion. Matt and I will take this."  
Seras frowned at Doug.  
"I agree that the soldiers should go home, this feels too big for them. But I'm going with you two."  
Before Doug could argue, Seras turned and headed into the AGT, and reemerged with the Halconnen, and a backpack with ammo. Doug's eyebrows rose of their own accord at the size of the weapon as Matt spoke.  
"Alright, you can come. But you get to stay outside the building, and supply heavy sniper fire."  
With that, all three jumped to the rooftops, Matt carrying Seras up, and headed for the new vamp nest.  
  
Doug ran up the stairs, two sub-machine guns in each hand, spraying bullets into the ghouls as they came down the stairs in a flood. How a vampire or vampires had remained unchecked long enough to create this many ghouls wasn't important to Doug at the moment. Wiping out the undead in this building was important.  
Doug exhausted both clips, and pressed the button to drop them from the guns. Placing one gun in his mouth and ignoring the temperature of the gun, he grabbed two fresh clips with his now free hand, and rammed the clips home into the guns. He dropped the gun in his mouth into his hand and brought both guns up to resume fire.  
His eyes widened and he bared his teeth in a silent snarl as he saw the first vampire of this building, its hands reaching out and grabbing Doug by the shoulders. It opened its mouth wide, baring its own fangs, and lurched forward to bite down on Doug's neck. Doug brought up the machine guns, aiming them at the vampires gut, but knew he couldn't pull the triggers in time.  
A lone gunshot sounded and the vampires head exploded, and the dead body was thrown away from Doug even as it turned to ash. Doug glanced to his left where Matt crouched, a smoking desert eagle in his hand, and a grin on his face. Doug nodded his thanks.  
Well, wiping out MOST of the undead in this building was important.  
Doug and Matt both ran up the stairs, dispatching any ghouls in the way with well placed bullets, before coming up to the top floor of the building. There they found themselves in a hallway, with a large set of double doors at the end.  
"Matt?"  
"There are four in there. One's totally feral, two are your standard vamps, and the fourth is a dead lord."  
Doug nodded at the number as he put the sub-machine guns into the holsters inside his own blue jacket, and drew forth his hand gun.  
"You take the feral, I'll take the two standards, and Seras can have the dead lord. You hear that Seras?"  
Matt nodded his ascent and drew his katana as Doug's radio crackled to life and Seras voice sounded, distorted by the gadget.  
"Roger."  
Doug and Matt calmly walked down the hallway, and glanced at each other. Then they kicked the double doors down, shattering them with the force they applied. Just as Matt had said, there were four vampires in the room. The two normal vampires looked like they were twins, and they eyed Doug and Matt with hatred, while the feral vampire merely hissed at them, crawling forward slightly. The dead lord, or lady as it was a woman, sat in a large, comfy looking armchair. She eyed them with disdain then merely gestured at them, and her vampires underlings charged forward.  
Doug moved to the left while Matt moved to the right, each intercepting their targets.  
Doug ran for the two vampires, gun ready. At the last second, instead of firing, he dropped down, sliding forward into one of the vampires, stopping his progress while his twin continued on for a few feet. The vampire Doug had stopped looked down at him in surprise as Doug raised his gun and fired twice, putting each bullet in one of the vampires eyes. The undead creature screamed, his hands clawing at his eyes as he turned to ash. Doug flipped over to his stomach, and emptied the rest of his clip into the remaining vampire twin, who turned into ash.  
Matt had dispatched his own vampire nearly as quickly. The feral undead had predictably leapt toward Matt, arms outstretched, fingers crooked into claws. Matt was quite sure that the feral vampire wanted to tear out his eyes. In response to the vampire's reckless charge, Matt slashed out twice with his sword, cutting off the vampire's arms who shrieked at the touch of the blade's metal, before ducking down and planting his shoulder into the vampires gut, just under the ribcage. The vampire was thrown back as his arms fell to the floor, turning into ash.  
The feral vampire skidded back, balancing on his feet as he left slight furrows in the floor. He looked up, growling, and was driven back as Matt's sword was thrown, piercing him through the heart, and pinning him to the wall. The feral vampire turned to ash before he could even utter a sound.  
The Dead Lady looked on impassively. She stood up, her long hair falling about her. Doug tapped his radio transmitter.  
"Seras, the Dead Lady's yours."  
The Dead Lady smirked at Doug, and got ready to use the telepathic powers she had been gifted with, when the far wall exploded. The Dead Lady blinked in almost comical surprise as her body exploded less than a second later, and then was consumed in the flames of the incendiary round Seras had used.  
On the roof of a nearby building, Seras stood up and flipped open her Halconnen, letting the spent shell pop out before snapping it shut. She looked through the wall the weapon had punched a hole into to see Matt calmly walk forward and retrieve his sword from the wall, and Doug change the magazine in his gun. They both nodded at her and she nodded back.  
  
Once into the street, they relaxed as the Hellsing clean up crew ran into the building. They all felt a slight feeling of foreboding as one soldier detached himself from the general flow, and ran over to them to deliver yet another message.  
"Officer Seras, we have reports of a ship heading up the channel that's loaded with the undead."  
Seras nodded wearily as she, Matt, and Doug stood, Doug slinging his duffel bag onto his back. All three of them headed for the river, once again taking to the rooftops.  
  
They came to a stop on the roof of a warehouse over looking the river. Seras came up and glared slightly at Matt.  
"Next time, warn me before you do that, alright?"  
Matt's eyebrows rose in inquiry.  
"Don't simply grab me and jump up to the rooftops. It's rather surprising."  
Matt grinned slightly, and Seras took a step back at the mischievous quality to it, grinning as well, when Doug spoke.  
"I hate to break up this lover's moment, but I think our ship just arrived."  
Matt and Seras walked up to the edge of the roof, Matt lightly smacking Doug upside the head, and looked out over the water. In the river there was a rather large yatch, looking slightly run down as it slowly moved through the water. Matt narrowed his eyes slightly, and after a moment they widened in surprise.  
"That's it alright. There are nearly a hundred undead in there."  
Doug rubbed his chin in thought.  
"Too many to board and storm it...Any ideas?"  
Matt grinned at Doug, this time a rather feral grin, and reached into his jacket.  
"You have to ask?"  
Matt withdrew his arm, and Seras gasped in surprise.  
Resting quite easily on Matt's arm was a custom made double gattling gun, two chains of ammunition disappearing into Matt's coat. Matt grinned even harder when he saw Seras' face.  
"Courtesy of Black. He comes up with some interesting ideas."  
Doug merely glanced at Matt's weapon before shrugging, and swung his duffel bag off his shoulder, and placed it gently onto the ground before unzipping it, and drawing forth yet another needlessly big gun.  
Three barrels, placed so the formed a triangle, ran back into the main body of the gun, which mainly looked like a giant ammo clip, wrapping around the gun's barrels.  
Seras blinked in surprise before catching onto their plan of action. Her fist inclination was to protest wildly, but something made her stop. She glanced at Matt's grin again, and at Doug to see that he also had a small grin, and felt a grin blossoming on her own face. She un-swung her backpack, opened it, and pulled out a Halconnen round. She popped open her own needlessly big gun, and loaded the shell, before snapping it closed, and assuming the traditional sniper's position, laying on her stomach, with the gun pointed out in front of her. Doug's grin widened.  
"On the count of three: One...Two...Three!!!"  
They all opened fire on the ship.  
Matt's gattling guns sprayed forth two streams of silver and uranium death, which easily tore through the ships hull, and into the compartments within. Doug raised his gun to his shoulder, sighted at the ship, and pulled the trigger. Three rockets shot out of the barrels of his gun, spiraling around themselves, before impacting the side of the ship, tearing open a hole about five feet in diameter.  
The barrels of Doug's gun needlessly rotated 120 degrees.  
Seras sighted along the Halconnen, aiming for the piloting house of the yatch, and pulled the trigger. The anti-freak cannon tore a hole easily as large as that of Doug's tri-rocket launcher, before exploding within the pilot's house, bathing it in flames. She quickly reloaded and fired again.  
For five minutes they sprayed the ship with death. When they were finally done, having exhausted the ammo of their respective weapons, the ship was torn apart down to the water line, and the remains quickly fell down into the depths of the river, never to be seen again. They calmly put their weapons away, Matt reaching into his coat, Doug placing his gun into the duffle bag, and Seras strapping hers to the back of her waist. They then calmly turned and walked away, each equally sure that they had woken up most of London, and not a one of them caring.  
Seras was a bit concerned about that last bit, and couldn't figure out why she didn't care. But she shrugged it off, and simply headed for home.  
  
Three figures watched the three of them leave. Two were using the magic of their race to hide from view, while the other used more mundane ways to hide, and simply stood in the shadows of a nearby roof top.  
The man standing in the shadows walked out into the light revealing himself to be Alexander Anderson, and he stared at the spot where the ship had once been in no little shock. After a moment of consideration of the ship's fate, and of those who brought that fate about, he turned and walked away, wondering what he had gotten himself into by allying with the two vampires.  
Another of the silent watchers recalled the picture of the burning yatch with no small amount of glee, his red eyes gleaming in the darkness. He turned and 'shadow walked' toward the Hellsing Manor, the vague outline of a trench coat and a wide brimmed hat barely seen.  
Another vampire merely vanished, too shocked to do anything else. He had to report this event to his master.  
  
:Author's Note: Right. First and foremost, I must apologize. This chapter was written with the sole purpose of posting something, even if I am finding ways to tie it in with the overall plot.  
Secondly, Doug's weapon, the tri-rocket launcher. That idea came from the fanfic 'Guardian', in the Ranma section. I suggest you read it, as it is an excellent Ranma fic, one of the better ones I've read.  
Anyway, what'd you think of my chapter of random violence and the needless slaughter or vampires? Please review. Even if it was a filler chapter, I'd still like feedback. Thanks. 


	6. Of Mists and Ice Buckets

Chapter 6: Of Mists and Ice Buckets.

"What in the HELL did you think you were doing?! Our operations are supposed to be DISCREET!! WHAT was discreet about what you did last night?!"

There were very few things that were able to intimidate Alucard. In fact, he hadn't been intimidated in the last three hundred years, perhaps longer. But the sight of his master nearly foaming at the mouth, veins popping out on her head and neck, screaming herself hoarse, was rather...well, scary. Good thing her fury wasn't aimed at him. It might put a black mark on his record of not being intimidated. Instead, it just added another moment of amusement for him. He didn't often get to see Integra lose her composure so completely, and he loved seeing others scolded. He hated being scolded himself, but he loved seeing others get scolded.

Seras didn't share Alucard's feelings of amusement. In fact, she was thinking rather wistfully of her coffin right then...and the prospect of hiding in it till Sir Integra calmed down. At the moment, Seras was doing the next best thing. She was slouching. A lot. Shrinking into herself. And it seemed to be working. The room seemed to be getting larger. (Wait a second...The room IS getting bigger...)

For a moment, Seras tuned out Sir Integra's reprimand and concentrated on the fact that everything suddenly seemed much larger. Matt and Doug stood on either side of her, and they seemed much taller, maybe a few inches. Doug was focused on Sir Integra, or possibly the spot just over her right shoulder. Matt, though, was slouching as he always did, and was eyeing her out of the corner of his eye, his face unreadable. For a moment their eyes met, and then Matt broke the eye contact.

He waited until Integra drew breath, then he cleared his throat and started to speak.

"I don't see what you're getting angry about. We wiped out the undead, and the official word is that it was an unregistered ship smuggling illegal arms and ammunition, and that there was an accident."

Integra blinked twice, her mouth opened to continue, before sinking back into her chair with a sigh. She grabbed a cigar and lit it.

"True. But that doesn't excuse the fact that you blew apart a ship, rather flamboyantly, in the middle of the river. Find a better way next time."

Doug, Seras, and Matt nodded, receiving a nod from Integra in return. The three turned and left and closed the door behind them.

Doug walked off without a word, lost in thought. Seras was also about to walk off, but Matt's hand fell onto her shoulder, and he started steering her toward the gym. Seras tried to protest.

"Hey, I've got things to do. Besides, we don't have training tonight."

Matt nodded.

"You're right, we don't. I'm not going to teach you martial arts tonight."

Matt looked at her rather pointedly and Seras blinked.

"I'm going to teach you to control your powers."

"What do you mean control my powers?"

Her voice had a little more snap in it than Seras intended. But then, for some reason, Matt's hand on her shoulder felt...rather odd. Matt simply walked along for a moment, his hand still on Seras' shoulder. After a moment, he spoke.

"Take a very close look to the area just around your body, maybe within a centimeter or two."

Seras held up her right hand, and looked to the space within a few centimeters of it. She blinked in surprise, then brought her hand a bit closer to her face.

"What...?"

Her hand was surrounded by...mist? Seras blinked again, and her mouth fell open slightly in surprise. That couldn't be right...she must be imagining it. How could she be surrounded by mist?

"Good. You noticed. Now, watch my hand very carefully."

She turned her head to look at his left hand as it rested on her right shoulder. He suddenly pulled his hand up and away, and Seras felt her mouth fall completely open, and her eyes widen to their maximum as she saw what was undoubtedly mist shoot away from her shoulder, following Matt's hand. She suddenly felt something...odd, like a piece of her body had been pulled away, and she shivered. For a moment she couldn't figure out why. But as she watched the mist slowly settle back to around her shoulder, and the strange feeling of being incomplete, she realized that she _felt_ the mist.

Matt grinned at her as he swept his hand just behind her, barely a centimeter between his gloved hand and her back. She shivered as she felt part of the mist get pulled away by the air movement.

"Yes, that mist is part of your body. You must have wanted to get away from Integra rather badly if you started to turn into mist unconsciously."

Seras suddenly felt a small pang of fear.

"It can be reversed right? I can...reabsorb it, right?"

"Yes, you can 'reabsorb' it. Vampires are meta-morphs, mist being one of the forms. It wouldn't make sense to be able to turn into something and not be able to turn back." Matt placed his hands in his pockets and looked thoughtful. "Beats me how you unconsciously figured out the most difficult form..."

Seras blinked in surprise.

"The most difficult form? Wouldn't that be...oh what are the other two...?" Her brow knit in concentration as she tried to recall the other two forms a vampire has. Matt filled in the blanks for her.

"Dog and bat are the other two main forms. Most vamps have a form or two only they can turn into, but everyone can turn into the three main forms of mist, dog, and bat. And mist IS the most difficult change to make and maintain."

For demonstration, he waved his hand in front of her face, and Seras gasped as the mist was pulled away. Matt continued once the mist had returned.

"As you can see, when you're in mist form even the slightest touch can pull some mist away, which ruins your concentration, and causes a lot of discomfort. But simply becoming the mist is rather difficult. Most vampires can't get the hang of it. It's...as if you're willingly losing yourself." He shivered slightly. "I got the hang of it a while ago, and it still gives me the creeps."

Matt started walking again, hands in his pockets, a slouch to his shoulders, and Seras fell into step beside him. After a moment, they reached the gym. Matt frowned when he saw that the gym was occupied by several of the Hellsing and Dark's Bane members. Without a thought, he turned away from the gym and started walking again. Seras blinked in surprise before falling into step beside him again.

"Um...why aren't we going into the gym? There are only a few people in there..."

Matt didn't remove his eyes from the direction he was heading.

"I don't like training around other people. First, it makes me uncomfortable. Second, it makes them nervous."

Seras blinked at him, her mouth open a little in surprise. He noticed her expression and one of his eyebrows rose in inquiry. She smiled as she replied.

"It's just a little surprising, hearing you say that you're uncomfortable about training with others."

He shrugged.

"Nothing really major, I've always been like that. I'm a bit of a loner."

Seras laughed softly and Matt grinned slightly.

"So I've noticed."

Matt and Seras continued to walk through the manor, and Seras considered the vampire next to her. He really was a mystery. On the missions, he worked well with others when he had too, but he often went off on his own. And off the missions...Very few people could find Matt. They'd get back to the manor, and he'd simply vanish. Often before they got back to the manor, Matt was gone. There was an occasional sighting of Matt in the gym or hanging around with Doug and his family. But if he was spotted in the gym he'd stop and leave if the person entered, and if he was with Doug's family, he didn't stay very long if other people were around.

Seras shook herself out of her reverie when she started to walk down the stairs leading to the lower levels of the Hellsing Mansion. Soon they were surrounded by the dark stone walls of the lower levels, and had passed the door to Seras' room.

"Where are we going?"

Matt glanced at Seras before replying. "My room. I've got some materials there that will help."

Seras blinked but didn't protest, and soon they had arrived at a door. Matt reached out and opened it with his right hand, and ushered Seras in before him. He closed the door behind him and took off his jacket, walking over to the only chair in the rather plain room and placing it across the back. Seras looked around with interest. While the room shared an uncanny resemblance to her own, enough for her to expect that the only furniture that had been here at the start were the table, chair, wardrobe, and coffin, it appeared that Matt had added some changes in the room's general layout.

The table had been moved to one corner of the room farthest from the bed, as had the chair, leaving the center of the room free. On the table was a laptop computer, as well as several books, placed in a makeshift bookshelf, and various vials and jars filled with odd liquids. Seras glanced at the book titles and found them all, with only one exception, to be simple novels that one would read to pass the time. The sole exception was a handsome book of black leather, with silver bindings, that was without a title.

Matt grabbed the book that Seras was scrutinizing, as well a vial of viscous black liquid, and directed her to stand in the center of the room. After she did so, he uncorked the vial and poured the liquid onto the floor, right in front of her feet, and quickly stepped back. Seras glanced at the vial to see no residue left of the liquid, before looking down at the floor. She involuntarily gasped at the sight of the black liquid moving about on the floor with a mind of its own, forming two circles, one within the other, with her standing inside the inner most circle. After forming the two circles, the liquid stared to form odd runic shapes in the space between the two circles. Soon the runes were completely formed, and there was a slight blast of black steam from the floor.

Seras glanced down at the floor, where it seemed that the liquid had instantly dried onto the floor, with a worried expression on her face. Matt spoke, his voice reassuring. "Don't worry, it won't hurt you. It's a binding spell Black makes for me. You won't be able to go past the outer circle, no matter what form you take."

"And why would you need something like that?"

Matt looked at Seras for a moment before answering her question, his voice even.

"To make sure you don't spread out over too much area. While it's true that you can change back and forth from mist to your normal body, that doesn't mean there aren't complications." He opened the book in his hands and started to flip through it. "Like I said, turning to mist is like totally losing yourself, not just your physical form, but your mental form as well." He found the page he was looking for, and grabbed a piece of paper from the table and slipped it between the pages, marking the spot, before closing the book again. "Some vampires don't take the necessary precautions when they turn to mist. Before their minds return to any part of awareness, their mist is spread out over a wide area, and they can't change back very well. It's touch and go, trying to pull the mist back into one area, before coming back to a physical form is possible." He smiled slightly in grim humor, tossing her the book. "I remember hearing about one vampire stupid enough to make his first transformation to mist on a _very_ windy day. He was never seen again."

Seras nodded nervously, then glanced down at the floor where the black liquid had dried, drawing some reassurance that that couldn't happen to her. She opened the book to the page that Matt had bookmarked. The handwriting on the page, simple printing in an odd, red ink, wasn't the best she had seen, but the print was legible. She glanced at Matt.

"What's this?"

Matt shrugged before replying. "My diary. Well, kind of..."

Seras returned her attention to the book and read the passage on the page, creatively labeled _Mist Transformation_.

_The transformation to mist is easily the one I hate the most, even more than the bat. I can't explain it any better than a total loss of self, both physical and mental. It took me forever to finally get into the right mindset. The mind has to be totally blank, and slightly detached from the body. The best I can think of to compare it to is meditation, or being on a drug induced high, neither of which I have experienced._

_Once the mind is blank, after a while it starts to...well, lose itself. The boundaries that the mind usually stays in totally disappear. The body soon follows suit, and the transformation to mist is made. I shudder if I even think about it now._

_Once the body has turned to mist, the mind and body no longer communicate very well. I'm not sure, but I think it took my mind over three hours to establish any kind of sensory connection with my body. I still don't know what sense it was, but soon I was using all of my senses. I wish I wasn't._

_Sight was unsettling. My whole body acted as one big eye, and I could see _everywhere_ at once, up, down, to the left and right, in front of me and behind me...I could even see _inside _my body, though it was only mist. It took me over an hour to figure out what was the ceiling and what was the floor._

_However, even worse than sight was the rest of my senses. Taste, smell, hearing, and touch are all one and the same when you're mist. You taste sounds, and smell textures._

At that point, the writing became a little sloppy, and there were two blotches of ink.

_I'm going to stop writing about that now, before I throw up. I'll move on to controlling the mist and returning to my normal body._

_I'm not sure how to really explain controlling the mist. The best I can think of is that you push and pull it. It takes a while, with a lot of trial and error, but it's possible._

_The process of returning to my normal body took longer than I thought and was incredibly uncomfortable. You'd think that the mind and body would want to return to their natural form, but that isn't the case. Apparently, to vampires, the form they're in currently is their natural form, be it dog, bat, or mist._

_The best I can explain it is you _pull _the mist in, and keep pulling it in until it starts to return to a solid shape. Every part of your body is automatically formed correctly, arms, legs, and organs are where their supposed to be. The same can't be said for any items you change to mist with you though. At least at first. After a while, items you turn into mist also return to their original state automatically._

_In fact, I've been thinking about turning items into mist while leaving my body whole and intact. I'll give it a try once I become more experienced with the mist form. Who knows, maybe I'll come up with something useful, like the speed power that I experimented with after turning into a dog._

Seras shut the book and tossed it back to Matt, who caught it and returned it to its place on the table. She had mixed feelings after reading that entry. She was glad that she now knew some of the basic ideas, but having the sensations described hadn't helped her. Now she very much wanted to stay solid.

Seras looked at Matt with a slightly panicked look in her eyes, and her voice shook slightly. "Um...Do you think you could simply show me how to pull the mist I've let out back into my body, and we could go through the rest later?"

Matt shook his head while he answered. "'Fraid not. If I knew how, I'd tell you that in a heartbeat. The mist form isn't what you should go through first, it should be the last. Unfortunately, I don't know how to make a partial transformation yet, so I can't tell you how to reverse it. The best I can do is have you go to a complete mist form, learn how to control it there, then return to normal. Hell, I'm not even sure you can control the mist like this. Your mind is still thinking in the solid realm and you won't be able to control the mist like that. Maybe once you're more experienced, made the transformation a few times, you'll be able to make a partial transformation like you have, and control it then. But not now. Might as well get it over with."

Seras nodded and closed her eyes, putting forth an effort to empty her mind. That was the easy part. Keeping it empty was much more difficult. Thoughts like (I really don't want to do this) kept popping up. Eventually, she was able to keep her head clear and empty.

Matt had long since settled in to wait, pulling out the chair quietly, and sitting down in it, watching Seras. He checked his watch periodically. Nearly an hour had passed since Seras had first closed her eyes. Matt thought back to his first successful mist transformation, and shuddered as he remembered the feeling of his body and mind suddenly...melting, dissolving into a gas.

Matt blinked in surprise and his mouth fell open as Seras suddenly turned to mist.

For a while, there was...nothing. Thought, feeling, they didn't exist. There was nothing, not even time. They just...didn't exist. Then there was...something. It wasn't anything in the physical sense. More of a...realization. She was a...she. It wasn't the word. It was the meaning behind the word, the sense of being...female, different from a male. As quickly as the realization came, of what the meaning of being female was, it left, and she returned to nothingness for a while.

Eventually, another realization came. This was the realization of...time. She didn't know about seconds, minutes, or hours, but she knew that time was passing.

The realization of time didn't leave her, and it was accompanied by the sense of being a...person, her sense of self reappeared. Soon afterwards, memories, feelings, even words were realized, and she felt a sense of relief. Her mind was back. But what about her body? What had happened to it?

Oh yes...she had been in Matt's room...

Her thoughts came and went, disjointed. For a moment, she remembered being in Matt's room, then her mind was taken years into the past, back to when her father was still alive. She was sitting on his shoulder, and there was a man, one of her father's friends, pointing a camera at them. He pressed the button on the camera, there was a click, and she was taken several years into the future, to the training camp for the police.

She was running, at the back of the class and out of breath, but she pushed on, not wanting to give up. She knew the general opinion of her, that she shouldn't be there, that she wasn't cut out for the life of a police officer. But she was determined to prove them all wrong. Her mouth set into a grim line, and she continued to run, when the person right in front of her tripped and went down. She couldn't dodge in time, and tripped over them. The sight of the ground rushing up to meet her was the last thing she saw before being pulled away, to another memory.

For a long time, she traveled down memory lane, her mind moving form one memory to another randomly, sometimes triggered by a thought she had. Slowly, ever so slowly, she got used to it, and was able to keep her thoughts and memories close to the present.

Meeting Integra for the first time, wrapped in a blanket, and being carried by Alucard, then going forward a few days to her first successful kill. Incognito, then back to first meeting Alex, and being stabbed in the throat, and the burning pain in her neck that wouldn't go away till after she had taken the sword out. The scar that had lingered for a few months.

She had a memory of walking through a door being held open for her by Matt, and before it could change, she forced herself to concentrate on that memory with every ounce of her will. Soon she came to the present, being mist floating inside the sealing art, the memories vanished, and her mind came completely back to itself. Then came her body.

She really wished it hadn't.

Sensory information came at her in an unstoppable flood, and her sense of self was washed away once again. Soon, her mind had recovered, and she began the unsettling task of shifting through her new senses.

First and foremost was sight. It was just like Matt's diary described, seeing everywhere at once. But Matt's diary didn't go into detail about how she saw everything in an unbroken image that wrapped around her. When the mist, which was just floating around at random, parted for a moment, she found herself seeing...well, herself. The mist was looking at the mist...A very unsettling experience. She didn't even want to consider the fact that she could see inside herself as well.

Next was everything else. Her senses of hearing, taste, touch, and smell were all combined into one. Every little sound vibrated through her body, throwing off her concentration, and she could smell...everything. She could even feel everything. The floor, the ceiling, the very air...

The flood of information was too much, and Seras started to panic. She wanted to be back into her normal body, back into a solid body. The book had said something about pulling the mist inward, until it took on a solid shape. She didn't see how you could possibly 'pull' mist, but she was desperate. In her desperation, she tried numerous ways to get the mist to move. When none of them worked, she went into full blown panic, and found the key.

Matt had been sitting in the chair, watching the mist that was Seras moved about at random inside the sealing art, for over seven hours. He had occasionally picked up a book in an attempt to help pass the time, but his worry over Seras kept him from ever truly getting into the books. Eventually he had just given up, and settled in to wait, hardly moving a muscle.

Matt frowned as the mist once again became agitated as it had several times, roiling about in the sealing art, before suddenly condensing. His mouth dropped open in shock as the mist was suddenly sucked inward, forming into a solid shape and Seras reappeared in the exact same place as she had been before, in almost the exact same position and condition, with one very large exception; she was nude.

For a moment, she stood there, her arms down at her sides. Then she collapsed, falling to the floor where she moved about in an uncoordinated way, much like a newborn animal, not yet used to how its muscles worked.

Matt stared at her, his mouth open, eyes wide, in unflattering appreciation for nearly a minute before coming back to himself. He shook his head and gave himself a mental slap before standing up. He reached behind him with his right hand, grabbed his jacket, and tossed it into the air so that it settled onto Seras, who was just starting to move in a coordinated way. Matt walked over to the wardrobe, opened it, and withdrew a pair of white sweatpants, as well as a short sleeved blue shirt. He turned around and walked back to the desk, tossing the clothes toward Seras who had good enough control to grab them.

Once at his desk, Matt grabbed what appeared to be an ordinary white coin, turned, and tossed it toward the seal. There was a flash, and the black markings on the floor suddenly vanished. Matt then politely turned the chair so it faced the desk, and sat in it, his back to Seras.

Seras, for her part, was more than a little dazed, and had caught the clothes Matt had tossed her on instinct. Soon after catching them, however, her brain awoke fully, and she realized her state of undress. She gasped, and hugged the jacket tighter to her, eyeing Matt, sitting in the chair with his back to her, with a mixture of nervousness and suspicion.

Matt, feeling Seras' gaze on his back, couldn't help but grin. His voice was also rather smug sounding. "Don't worry, Seras, I won't look. I've already gotten an eyeful."

Seras felt her left eyebrow begin to twitch as she pulled the sweat pants on, and tied the strings rather tight, since Matt's waist was much larger than her own. She grabbed the shirt and pulled it over her head, frowning at the awkward fit. Matt's shoulders were quite a bit broader than her own, but since she had breasts, it balanced out. Sort of. The neck of the shirt plunged a little more than she liked.

Seras gasped as she remembered her uniform, and turned around to look for it. She spotted her uniform almost at once, as it was lying on the ground less than three feet away. It was, however, rather...different.

The left sleeve and breast pocket were now attached just under the right sleeve, and which was now upside down, one of her black leggings was now attached to the back of the skirt, while the other was attached to the neck of the uniform, and the Hellsing crest was shocking cut neatly in half, one half each appearing on the left and right sides of the skirt. Seras reached over and picked her uniform up and looked at it in amazement before turning to Matt as he turned his chair around, assuming she had clothed herself. Matt blinked in surprise at the state of her uniform.

He opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by the intercom, ordering one of the remaining Hellsing units into action, as well as Matt, Seras, and Doug. Matt sighed as he stood up and retrieved his jacket, swinging it about his shoulders while slipping his arms into the sleeves. He frowned as Seras struggled to her feet.

She stumbled and Matt caught her before she fell while her uniform fell from her weak fingers to land once again on the floor. His voice was rather forceful. "You're not going Seras. You aren't fully recovered from the mist transformation."

Seras threw an angry glare at him before standing again and shoving his arm away. "I'll go where I please, thank you very much. I've recovered just fine."

Seras proceeded to walk toward the door, and Matt noticed that she was moving rather stiffly. She opened the door and walked out, and Matt grinned as he counted off in his head. (3...2...1...0.)

CRASH, "Aaagh!" THUD, "Oof!"

Matt walked to the door and into the hallway to see Seras lying on the floor, her rump stuck up into the air slightly with a formal ice bucket sitting on it, ice littering the ground around her, and a blood packet sitting on the back of her head.

Seras sounded rather resigned when she spoke. "I always wondered how those things always got around. Now I know. They float."

Matt grinned as he stepped forward, grabbing the blood packet and popping the top off before sticking the tube in his mouth like a straw. He glanced down at Seras for a moment before squatting down in front of her, his back to her. His arms were placed in a carrying position as he looked at her over his shoulder.

"Well, you going to get on, or do I leave you lying there?"

With a little difficulty, Seras pulled herself onto his back. Matt stood up, supporting her legs with his hands while her arms wrapped around his neck, and carried her piggy back to her room. He opened the door with his foot and carried her to the bed, sitting on it and letting her off. Seras saw a bucket of ice sitting in the middle of the table.

He stood up and walked toward the door, talking as he went, this time his voice brooking no argument. "You're not going on this mission, you're too uncoordinated right now. Just stay in bed for a few hours, and you'll be fine." As he passed the table, he picked up the blood packet that was in the ice bucket and tossed it to her, dropping the blood packet he had drained while carrying her piggy back into the trash. He opened the door and was gone.

Seras gave a slight huff of indignity, but popped off the top of the blood packet and started to drink while she settled herself onto the bed comfortably.

:Author's Note:

Sorry for the long wait for an update, but my internet's been down for some reason.


	7. The Full Moon Aproacheth

Chapter 7: The Full Moon Aproacheth.

Seras had never really gotten into reading before. She enjoyed it, had gotten good grades in English throughout her school years, but she had never seemed to just sit down with a good book and read. As she turned the page of the book that she was currently reading she made a mental note to read more in the future. Her current urge to read was brought about by two things. First, she had seen the books in Matt's room. Second, she couldn't move all that well anyway, so she might as well sit still for a few hours and read while her body and mind reestablished the vital connections that allowed her to move.

About half way down the current page, Seras' ear twitched at a sound out in the corridor. Her head raised a little and her eyes moved to the door of her room which was open a small amount.

"Geez, you'd think that this corporation would be good enough to accurately assess situations, and realize how much force is needed for certain missions. Calling you, me, and Seras in is overkill for that level of mission." Doug's voice. He sounded slightly annoyed, which vanished as he continued, being replaced by puzzlement. "Speaking of Seras, where was she? She didn't show up, and that's not like her."

"She needed some down time, though she didn't think so at first." Matt's voice. His voice carried a note of boredom, but to Seras it sounded slightly forced.

"Oh, down time. From what I wonder. And how would you know that she needed it, Eh?" Doug's voice again. Seras frowned at the nearly audible 'nudge, nudge, wink, wink.'

Seras' frown turned into a slight smile as she heard Matt smack Doug upside the head. Her smile then turned into a frown again as Matt explained.

"I was teaching her how to transform into mist. She was pretty uncoordinated afterwards."

"Ah."

For a moment, silence reigned between them, only the sounds of their footsteps heard. Seras was about to start reading again when Doug suddenly spoke, his voice slightly hushed, his tone tense.

"Tomorrow's the full moon. You ready?"

Matt's voice, in response, was just as tense, and the response itself was short and direct. "Yes."

They fell into silence again and Seras frowned in puzzlement. What was so special about the full moon? She knew that Doug would transform into a were-wolf, but Walter had said that Doug would keep his mind, so she didn't think that was it. Then there was Matt's voice. Matt only spoke in such a voice except on missions, and then, only rarely. Something was wrong.

Knock knock.

Seras looked at the door, a frown still on her face as Matt's voice carried through the door. "You decent?"

"Yes."

Matt opened the door the rest of the way, and he entered, Doug a step behind. Seras looked at him in puzzlement as Matt explained. "Just checking on you, seeing if you're recovered from the transformation."

Doug moved over to the table and leaned against it, a serious expression on his face. "You look okay, but I'm curious as to if you really are. Matt once told me what it's like, turning into mist. Gave me the creeps."

Seras nodded. "It was rather disturbing." She shivered before continuing. "But I'm alright for now. Thanks for checking." She smiled at first Doug, who smiled in return and nodded, then at Matt. Matt didn't smile in return. Instead, he was frowning at the book she was reading.

"That looks slightly familiar."

Seras considered the book she held. It was old and well read, with a few stains on some of the pages, and a well loved air about it. The pages were soft from the effect of hands constantly moving across them, and the binding turned easily, caused by being held open for long periods of time.

Seras' voice was rather casual as she replied, closing the book on her index finger, marking her page. "Well, it is yours. I saw it in your room earlier, and thought I might read it to pass the time."

Matt sounded puzzled as he responded. "You went back to my room, and got that book?"

Seras nodded, slightly defensively. She HAD made it, and she had only fallen over twice. Matt, catching Seras' nod and its defensive quality, merely grinned.

"Fall over a few times did you? I told you to stay in bed."

Seras hunched her shoulders and glared at him with indignation. Matt merely grinned wider before continuing.

"And you didn't bother to change. I was hoping to get my clothes back. Not that they don't look good on you."

Doug's eyebrows rose as he looked more closely at the clothes Seras was wearing. He grinned as he realized that they did, indeed, belong to Matt.

Seras frowned, and forgetting that Doug was present, responded, indignation sounding clear in her voice. "Consider the clothes as payment for-"

"Payment?"

Both Matt and Seras started, and looked at Doug, who was staring at the two of them, grinning from ear to ear. His voice held a note of extreme delight, and mischief showed clear on his face.

"Payment for what I wonder?"

Seras blushed crimson, and reopened the book, hiding behind it. Matt, seeing her reaction, threw back his head and laughed, long and hard.

He was still chuckling when he spoke. "Well, as I've checked up on you, and confirmed you're alright, I must away."

Matt turned and walked toward the door, a grin on his face, as Doug followed, grinning as well. Seras considered them over the edge of the book. Finally, as Matt reached the threshold of the door, she blurted out her question.

"What's so important about the full moon?"

Matt and Doug stopped dead. They both tried to look relaxed, but Doug succeeded more than Matt did. Or maybe it was the fact that Matt, usually as relaxed as possible in any position, looked much more noticeable tensed than Doug.

Doug looked over at his shoulder, a grin on his face, his voice casual. "Nothing much. Matt just helps me out, in case something goes wrong. I don't want to bite anyone."

The response was smooth, well delivered, and very feasible. Seras almost believed it. Almost. But the fact that Doug's grin, and the casualness of his voice were both noticeably forced, and the fact that Matt hadn't turned to give a grin of his own, both betrayed the lie.

But it was as Matt spoke, his voice thick with emotions Seras couldn't identify, that convinced Seras that something was terribly wrong, and that Matt and Doug were trying to keep it secret.

"Seras?"

"Hmm?"

"Do me a favor. Tomorrow night, don't leave the manor grounds."

And with that, Matt and Doug stepped out of her room, letting the door shut behind them.

Seras stared at the door, trying to shake the feeling of foreboding that had suddenly settled into her gut.

Outside in the hallway, Matt and Doug didn't talk until they were both sure that Seras wouldn't be able to hear them.

"Damn it!" Matt punched the wall with enough force to sink his hand up to the wrist within the brick surface, his teeth gritted in anger, lips pulled back in a slight snarl, revealing the tips of his fangs. Doug studied him with a guarded expression in his eyes and a carefully neutral expression on his face as Matt retracted his hand from the new hole in the wall, brick and cement pieces falling to the floor.

"You'll have to tell her."

Matt whirled to face Doug, fury shining in his eyes as the light in the underground hallway began to dim. Matt's voice was tight with anger as he spoke, the words clipped. "No I don't. If I had my way, NO ONE, not even you and Sam, would know."

Doug didn't back down from his friend, maintaining a calm expression. "Matt, I've seen the way you look at her. And Sam's seen the way she looks at you. Sam and I agree; there's something forming between you and Seras. Trust me on this; you WILL have to tell Seras the truth."

Matt shook his head to the negative, and Doug frowned. Denial wasn't something Doug often saw in Matt. In fact, aside from Doug and Sam, Matt never let anyone see him acting this out of character. Matt's whole body was tensed and his eyes darted from side to side, as if he was ready to leap forward and engage someone, or turn and flee, seeking possible angles for attack and pathways of escape. As Doug recalled from his health class, Matt was now deeply into the 'fight or flight' mode.

Doug reached out and put a hand on Matt's shoulder, giving a reassuring squeeze as he did so. "Look, denying the truth won't do you anything, be that truth the fact that you have to tell Seras, or the fact that Sam and I will always stand by you, no matter what you do."

Matt closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and nodded. Doug kept his hand on his friend's shoulder for another moment, before nodding in reply and removing it. Matt turned and started walking toward his room, Doug beside him. Once they had arrived at Matt's room, he opened the door and let Doug in first, entering after him.

Matt moved over to the table and sat in the chair. For a moment, he simply sat there, eyes staring unseeingly at the tabletop in front of him. Eventually, he came out of his reverie, and shook his head. Matt pulled off the glove on his left hand and dropped it onto the table, then reached out with both hands and grabbed two items on the desk. The item in his left hand looked to be no more than a simple piece of clay, perfectly circular and flat, like a coin. But on one side a runic symbol was etched into the clay, one neither Doug nor Matt could actually read. In his right hand was a simple, sharp knife.

Matt put the clay piece on the table, then took a deep breath while he brought the knife in his right hand closer to his left thumb. He then quickly stabbed the tip of the knife into the thumb of his left hand, deeply enough to make sure blood flowed freely. Matt then put the knife down, the tip stained red, and grabbed the clay piece, holding his bleeding thumb over it.

For a moment, the blood dropped onto the clay, filling the grooves. Then there was a hiss as the blood completely filled the groove of the runic symbol, and the blood instantly dried and crystallized. Matt let his vampiric healing flow through his thumb, and the hole sealed shut instantly. He then tossed the clay piece over his shoulder to Doug, who caught it with his right hand, and pocketed it.

Matt then got out of the chair, and walked over to his coffin, a slump to his shoulders that had nothing to do with being lazy. Matt sat onto the bed, took off his shoes, and then lay down, pressing the button to lower the coffin lid with his left hand.

Doug watched until the lid closed with a click, then turned and left the room, letting the door shut behind him.

:Author's Note:

Sorry this is so short, but that seemed to be a good stopping point. Please let me know what you think in a review.


End file.
